International rugby in review: Week 2

The second week of the Spring Tour is over and boy what a week it was!

In the course of just a few hours, the majority of the 20 teams competing for the coveted Webb Ellis Cup in 2015 battled it out in a weekend of highly entertaining and well-contested matches.

In fact it’s taken this long to find time to watch and review each match, but not one of the games was I disappointed with the spectacle on show.

All teams in the Rugby Championship will be succinctly analysed, but I’ll do my best to provide news on all games.

England 21 – New Zealand 24
As the highest-ranked match of the weekend, spectators and viewers alike were sure for a show when two of the top contenders for Rugby World Cup 2015 locked horns.

New Zealand have never embraced, nor deserved, underdog status and they showed why with a fantastic second half performance. Despite playing at Twickenham, a fortress in its own right, New Zealand found strength under pressure.

With New Zealand trailing 14-11 at half time, courtesy of a nifty Jonny May try mixed with Owen Farrell’s boot, the Kiwis turned to Richie McCaw for the turnaround, his 45th minute try bringing the visitors back in front.

It was also McCaw’s leadership that bound his team together when hooker Dane Coles was sent off 10 minutes later. During this time New Zealand outscored England 3-0, applying even more pressure than they had previously despite being down a man. A deserved try by Charlie Faumuina extended the gap before a penalty try to England in the dying stages of the match added credibility to the scoreboard after a poor second half.

Sonny Bill Williams continued to show why his automatic Test recall was deserved while the battle for the coveted 10 jersey wasn’t resolved after Aaron Cruden and Beauden Barrett played great, controlling matches.

England were without a lot of their regular starting players and still put on a great display, especially their first half. They also have a lot of options at 10, but neither Owen Farrell nor George Ford did anything to warrant automatic selection.

It was the result most expected. No matter where you play, there is no such thing as an easy match against the world’s number one outfit.

As for this coming weekend, New Zealand will take great confidence heading to Murrayfield to verse Scotland, and will take the opportunity to test other improving All Blacks. England will have a far harder assignment against South Africa, but will take a lot of anger from their loss and put it into a sterling performance against another Southern Hemisphere powerhouse.

Australia 33 – Wales 28
Another improved performance from the men in gold and suddenly things are looking up. Slightly.

The performance was still far from perfect, but Michael Cheika will be happy with his two from two record and the fact that Australia managed to close out a game against an impressive Welsh team.

The Wallabies finally found the necessary means of involving Israel Folau with purpose, and the result was two tries to the Waratahs fullback in the first half. Coupled with a rampaging run from the human wrecking ball, Tevita Kuridrani, the Wallabies did enough to make up for some poor defence to go into the second half at 21 all.

The second half was a story of the forward pack though, with all try-scoring momentum halted, save for a Welsh penalty try courtesy of their reserve front-row out-muscling us close to our line.

Cue Bernard Foley. The Wallabies 10 calmly slotted two penalties prior to the Welsh penalty try, but it was his unplanned drop goal to regain the lead that proved his class and showed he’s a Test-level flyhalf. Another penalty goal soon after helped extend the Aussies to the final score, but it didn’t come without its fair share of fright, as for the third match in a row the Wallabies kicked away possession in the final seconds.

The best performances on the field go to Welsh hooker Richard Hibbard, a standout in general play, Dan Lydiate, and Leigh Halfpenny (before his concussion led to an early exit). For the Wallabies it was the previously mentioned Waratahs pair Foley and Folau, as well as a dynamic Michael Hooper, whose quick-thinking and Energizer Bunny legs set up one of Folau’s tries and gained the forwards plenty of metres tight around the rucks’ edges.

Wales can expect a much easier game against Fiji, though it won’t be a pushover. I expect more game time for Mike Phillips and a recall to the 23 for winger Liam Williams (coming back from injury) and James Hook following the injury of Dan Biggar and Halfpenny, two positions Hook has plenty of experience covering.

Australia will square up against France, a team they’ve already beaten three times this year. The challenge is intensified given the home ground advantage has shifted favours, but the result will remain the same.

Points of interest will be whether the 6-2 reserve ratio will keep given the different challenge that Les Bleus present. Sean McMahon had a great game for his first international Test debut, but if Scott Higginbotham recovers in time it will be interesting to see what happens with the backrow. Quade Cooper won’t oust Foley after that game, but a spot on the bench could be up for grabs. As for his Reds partner Will Genia, he provided a great bit of spark and quick ball upon entering the field, but his rival Nick Phipps was no slouch and should retain the starting spot for now.

Ireland 29 – South Africa 15
Well, didn’t this cause a a stir in the rugby community? Fresh from an impressive win against world champions New Zealand, South Africa were completely outgunned and outclassed in nearly every aspect of this thriller.

Even as a diehard Wallabies supporter, I happily state that the Irish team provided the performance of the week. Resolute in defence, quick on the ball and masters at the turnover – the forwards didn’t step a foot wrong. Combine that with the dominating lock pairing of captain Paul O’Connell and one of the world’s tallest rugby players, Devin Toner, the lineout was impressive even up against the ageing might of Victor Matfield.

The front-row was industrious at the set-piece and provided the opportunities for sharpshooter Jonathan Sexton to nail five from five penalty attempts. The perforamce was helped tenfold by Sexton’s immaculate tactical kicking, an area that South Africa just couldn’t master.

As for the standouts in this match, the tight five of Ireland as well as Sexton and Rob Kearney were all fantastic. Conor Murray also stamped his claim as one of the world’s best scrumhalves. For South Africa, it was hard to fault Beast Mtawarira and Eben Etzebeth, but Bismarck du Plessis and Duane Vermuleun didn’t have the same impact they usually do. This led to very few rucks in which the Springboks felt confident. As a result, Francois Hougaard played a very forgettable match and so his outside backs were presented limited opportunity to shine.

Ireland’s next game against Georgia won’t pose any problems, even if they field a largely experimental team, and as mentioned earlier, the Springboks have the hardest match of their tour against World Cup hosts England. My tip is South Africa by 4, but there won’t be much in it.

Both sides have a lot to prove if they are to stake their claims for next year’s tournament, but South Africa have a dangerous tendency of shining against the best opposition. This might be their shot at redemption.

Scotland 41 – Argentina 31
This was always sure to be a great encounter between two fairly evenly matched teams. The perennial underachievers in the Rugby Championship were fired up after a first ever win in the tournament, whereas Scotland are improving game-by-game under New Zealand-born coach Vern Cotter.

Unfortunately for South American fans, the scoreboard doesn’t really do justice to how much the Scots outclassed Los Pumas. Despite an early runaway try for the Argentinians, Scotland dominated the rest of the game to lead 34-10 up until the last 10 minutes of the match.

The lock combination of the Gray brothers proved to be too much for the Argentinian defence to cover, as both brothers crossed for tries inside the opening 25 minutes. Young flyhalf Finn Russell and the cool, calm and collected captain Grieg Laidlaw were also vital to the success of the Scottish, and their absence towards the end of the match showed as they let in a series of preventable tries.

It was hard to pinpoint standouts for the Argentinians as they had so few opportunities, especially in the second half, but replacement scrumhalf Tomas Cubelli was excellent when he came on the pitch and the centre pairing of Juan Martin Hernandez and Marcelo Bosch found some great form in patches.

Argentina will fancy their chances a lot more against Italy when they face each other on the weekend, whereas Scotland face an uphill battle against New Zealand. They have the team to test the All Blacks, but I think most would agree a win would be a massive stretch.

Elsewhere on the weekend, Pacific Island nations Fiji (40-15) and Samoa (24-13) lost to France and Italy respectively. Unlike Fiji, Samoa were in the game for a long part of the match, but the Azzurri fought back and claimed an impressive win against a team they’ve struggled against in the past.

Fiji’s job won’t get easier as they face a hungry Welsh outfit, but with Nemani Nadolo set to make a comeback to the starting team, their chances are improved greatly.

The only other successful Southern Hemisphere nation were Tonga, who overcame a slow first half to beat Georgia 23-9 with a strong showing from the impressive half Taniela Moa.

USA showed what they’d learnt against their massive loss to New Zealand last week to overpower Romania 27-17, while their neighbours Canada held off an ever-improving Namibia in a tight and low-scoring encounter, which ended at 17-13.