International rugby in review: Week 3

The third week of the internationals answered as many questions as it presented, with the majority of the games going down to the wire, culminating in a fantastic weekend of viewing.

Did all of the favourites win? No. Did all of the favourites dominate the weaker sides? No.

It was a weekend of tight tussles, where most games relied on forward dominance. The wet weather in some games may have had an influence, but tries were rare and came only as a result of enormous pressure.

As per last week, the Rugby Championship teams will be explored with a bit more detail than the other matches, but I’ll do my best to provide results and analysis on all fixtures.

Argentina 20 – Italy 18
This was always going to be a tight game between two teams that are traditional powerhouses up front with reliable kickers to convert pressure into points. However, upon kickoff, it was evident that the previewed hype about the scrums was misinformed – I don’t recall seeing one successful scrum in the first half.

The field was drenched from the downpour prior to the game and as a result the heels of each forward pack resembled shovels heaving the ground beneath them upon engagement. The Italian flyhalf Kelly Haimona knocked over a few penalties to keep the scoreboard ticking over, but his five successful shots at goal combined with a late penalty from replacement 10, Luciano Orquera, were not enough to upset a determined Argentina.

Juan Martin Hernandez replaced the impressive Nicholas Sanchez and did a great job playing one in from his usual position at 12. He brought with him a great tactical kicking game that allowed for the Pumas to exert some pressure, and his spatial awareness set up a great try to Jeronimo De La Feunte, the man filling Hernandez’s usual position.

His linking up with outside centre Horatio Agulla provided the best looking centre pairing Argentina have seen this season, although they still lack a bit of size and structure and struggle to dent the line if they can’t find a way to step around the opposition.

Sergio Parisse was the standout for the Italians, but Haimona also showed that he has earned the starting spot and will hopefully continue to improve. The lock pairing of Quinton Geldenhuys and Joshua Furno was also largely successful, proving a handful in the lineouts and in loose play, but the lack of firepower in the outside backs couldn’t finish off the hard work of these forwards.

With an eye on next week, I expect Italy to struggle against the might of a revitalised Springboks team, no matter how experimental the side is, and Argentina will take confidence away from this win, but probably not enough to overpower a confident French outfit.

South Africa 31 – England 28
Another heavyweight clash and England are yet to come away with a win, again going down by three to a hungry Springboks team after losing by the same margin to New Zealand. South Africa received an upheaval in the halves with Cobus Reinach and Pat Lambie filling the shoes left by the Bulls pairing of Francois Hougaard and Handre Pollard.

Lambie took immediate action by slotting a penalty before Jan Serfontein turned the entire stadium silent by racing away to score an intercept try in the 15th minute. The conversion was knocked over to give a 10-0 lead for the first quarter of the match – just the response they needed to dispel the critics following their loss to Ireland.

Owen Farrell and Lambie swapped penalties before Farrell snagged another three pointer to go into the half trailing 13-6. It was tight work in the forwards and monstrous defence by both teams – there wasn’t much separating the two, but England would’ve expected more given 80 per cent of the first half was played in Springbok territory.

The start of the second half started just as any South African would have hoped, with Lambie nudging a kick forward for Willie le Roux to re-gather and offload to Reinach, whose blistering pace is his greatest asset for the Durban-based Sharks. The Springboks would’ve kept running riot were it not for Victor Matfield seeing yellow in the 44th minute.

Powerful frontrower Dave Wilson barged his way over for a try before replacement No. 8 Ben Morgan crashed over from close range as well, levelling the scores in a matter of minutes. However, this didn’t bode well with the Springboks and they marched down the other end, eventually turning a maul into a try for veteran loose forward Schalk Burger, the man of the match.

England’s own Dylan Hartley got sent for an early shower, but the one man deficit only resulted in both sides swapping penalties, England’s coming from the young and promising playmaker George Ford.

With the scores settled at 28-23 to the Boks, Lambie set himself up and calmly slotted a drop goal, extending the lead beyond a converted try and reassuring coach Heyneke Meyer he’d made the right choice at 10. A late try to Brad Barritt wasn’t enough to lift the mood of English fans and players alike, as they knew the task in front of them was all over.

England will take pleasure in knowing their forwards can run with the best of them, even with a host of British and Irish Lions missing from the pack. But the backs have their work cut out for them, as even the usually cool heads of Danny Care and Mike Brown failed to get all the basics right in a game that was well and truly anyone’s for a lot of the match.

The Springboks will have their confidence restored and ready to tackle whatever Italy throws at them. Likewise, England have a chance to throw caution to the wind and determine their best team as they get a break from the top teams in the world to face off against an impressive Samoan outfit.

New Zealand 24 – Scotland 16
Well, what a game this turned out to be. Despite a largely experimental side donning the black jersey (Colin Slade at 14 seems as good as any example), the All Blacks were still expected by most to run riot over Scotland, a team they haven’t lost to dating back to 1905. Although Scotland are a rapidly improving team under Kiwi coach Vern Cotter, a few defensive lapses against Argentina last week meant they were still firm underdogs in this match.

But that was without taking into account that Dan Carter might not be able to immediately rekindle his best form. Crazy right? I mean he hasn’t started a Test match all year and has had heaps of time to recover from his serious injuries; so surely he’s ready to go again! (Please note all intended sarcasm).

Sadly, the all-time leading point scorer was stifled and shut down by an impressive Scottish defence. An early Victor Vito try helped the All Blacks gain a bit of momentum, but just like last week, Tommy Seymour, the hot-footed Scot, plucked a Richie McCaw pass as if it were intended for him and raced through, giving Scotland the lead and a lot to cheer about.

It came down to a battle of the boots, which is something no one ever wants to do against Dan Carter, but Grieg Laidlaw showed he’s no slouch. Penalties were traded and both defences, helped by the odd bit of dropped ball and unnecessary mistakes, kept both teams try-less for most of the rest of the match.

The biggest moment of the game came in the 69th minute. Down 17-16, Scotland were awarded a penalty that would have taken them into the lead coming into the final 10 minutes, a position that would have instilled confidence through the players and boosted defensive efforts. Laidlaw’s first miss of the night came at a poor time however, and the three points went begging.

A noticeable shift in mood soon followed and the Kiwis took advantage of their lucky escape. Man of the match Jeremy Thrush burst over from close range off a questionable pass, but it was enough to silence the Scottish crowd and earn a hard fought win. Carter still has work to do in order to play again, but the game was great for reassuring Slade as a genuine utility option and Sonny Bill Williams came on and was as damaging as ever.

The forwards have little to worry about, with even a jumbled pack playing well enough to compete with the best in the world. The standouts up front were Liam Messam and Jeremy Thrush. Vito would have made the list, had it not been for bad luck striking him down once more with injury. Scotland played valiantly and can take a great deal away from the performance.

Laidlaw is a nifty little player and a great leader, whose goal kicking services are preceded only by his ability to direct the forwards and backs with class. The outside backs were struggling a bit to match the physicality of the New Zealand backs, and more than once you could see Stuart Hogg put under pressure by the likes of Charles Piutau or Ben Smith.

New Zealand will be ready to dispose of Wales with more ease than Australia could, whereas Scotland’s game against Tonga will decide just how markedly they’ve improved in recent times. A 20-point win would be ideal, expected and timely given Tonga will have a similar style and a similar level of difficulty to some of the pool matches Scotland can expect against Samoa, Japan and the USA in next year’s World Cup.

Australia 26 – France 29
As the only southern hemisphere side to lose this weekend, the Wallabies are surely back to the drawing board once more. Patches of brilliance in the dying stages of both halves wasn’t enough to go four from four against a French side that has finally found something that closely resembles it’s best available starting team.

As annoyed as I was watching the match, the game provides some benefit and perspective. Namely, Michael Cheika is not a messiah that can magically turn our team into a group of unbeatables over the course of a fortnight. He was right to admit the scoreboard flattered us a little, but through all of this is a lot of positives.

We are a step closer to finding our best team and the general response from the public about the loss has been a lot kinder than previous occasions, which is a massive step to take for a team constantly heckled and misinterpreted by the media.

As for the game, a poor defensive read around the base of a ruck allowed Sebastian Tillous-Borde to dart over from what George Gregan described as “an easy halfback try”. Bernard Foley had his boots tied just right as he banged over his first penalty in a perfect six from six performance from the tee, but the dreaded (excuse the pun opportunity) Teddy Thomas was difference, whose quick feet and powerful fend allowed him to score a well worked try and redeem his poor defensive game.

Not to be outdone by youth, Adam Ashley-Cooper showed what experience provides as he dotted down his 30th Test try. Another Foley penalty gave a 17-16 halftime score, but the French were dominating. They’d finally found their rhythm, and the impressive boot of Camille Lopez banged over enough shots at goal to keep Australia behind as they struggled to overpower a great forwards performance from Les Bleus.

Replacement 10 Quade Cooper stepped up and a piece of offloading skill mastered by few others saw Rob Simmons cross for his first Test try in his 49th appearance. The opportunity to win was there, but sturdy defence meant that our forwards were once again laid to blame by most critics, as James Horwill, Will Skelton and Ben Alexander all coughed up the pill in make-or-break situations.

Coming into the Irish Test, surely mastering the basics of catching and ruck defence will be the onus at training, while the back five of the scrum and parts of the backline can expect a little bit of shuffling. The task against Ireland isn’t an easy one, but it’s not mission impossible.

I expect Ireland to take the match by five, but if our attack is well thought out our backs can impose a greater presence than South Africa or Georgia did and we might just be able to hold them out. I’ve got this one marked as game of the round.

As for France, they have a date with Argentina. There will be a lot to play for, with these two teams capable of beating nearly anyone on their day, but both with a habit of rarely showing up. At their best, expect France to edge out the game by 10, more if Argentina fails to decrease the number of penalties they give away.

Elsewhere around the world, a tight game between Samoa (23) and Canada (13) showed why Samoa are the highest ranked Pacific Island nation, despite dealing with an extensive list of internal drama surrounding payment issues.

Their game against England won’t be much fun unless they unite as one and target the backs in their hardest game of the year.

Canada face Romania and will be looking to repeat the efforts USA demonstrated in their win over the European minnows. Romania (13) are still hurting from a kick-heavy five-point loss to a weakened Japan (18) and will be looking for their first win against a Rugby World Cup team in this international window.

Wales (17) played poorly in a hard-fought win against Fiji (13). The game was obviously used to experiment, but to go 40 minutes scoreless against a team that barely plays together and who were playing a man down due to the ill-discipline of Campese Ma’afu, is inacceptable.

Nemani Nadolo, who we all remember as the standout winger in the Super Rugby, showed his emergence as a centre at international level as well, scoring all 13 points for Fiji. His goal-kicking is a tad inconsistent, but his damaging runs and match awareness means he will be put into the Fijian XV no matter what position.

He will be expected to guide his team to a win over an improving USA next week, who are smarting from a 40-12 drumming at the hands of Tonga. Tonga unleashed an almighty wrath towards the end of the match to comfortably win what was expected to be a close encounter.

As for the remainder of the games next week, Georgia will be wanting to avenge a 42-point loss against a second-string Ireland when they take on Japan and Portugal will be out to show the Namibians that they aren’t an easy-beat just because they aren’t competing at the Rugby World Cup next year.

The games are getting more important as the weeks go by, with every team out to prove their worth come the World Cup. With different strategies involved to test existing players or to trial new ones, the fact remains everything we see is serving a greater purpose.

As the games go by, who will emerge as favourites to win? Whose squad is the deepest? Whose coach can take them through the challenge and hardship that is a World Cup?

Only time will tell. I, however, sure am enjoying this hell of a ride.