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I’m not a big fan of the June interruption to Super Rugby, but I have to admit that I am really excited about the first internationals of the year down in this half of the rugby world.
Test rugby is always something to get excited about, to be fair, and there is always something special when the Wallabies take on England, but when you add in the background of the coaches, and the whole Rugby World Cup thing, it quickly becomes mouth-watering.
But of course, there’s more international rugby going on this weekend than just what’s going on in Australia, and I’m looking forward to seeing as many games as are available to me. Here’s the talking points for the first weekend of June internationals.
Friday night footy!
» New longform: ‘Rugby is a game, not a trade’: Australia’s first rugby Test against England
» Essendon vs Hawthorn: Friday Night Forecast
» The mid-year All Australian team: Rose and Ryan compare notes
» Ben McCalman and Will Skelton unlucky to miss Wallaby selection
12-13 combos: have size, lack subtlety
It felt like there were a hundred different possible Wallabies centre pairings in play this week, and with Michael Cheika dealing the cards, there may well have been.
In all honesty, I wasn’t particularly fussed about the centres. Whichever way Cheika went, it would’ve been a useful option. I found something strangely enticing about the prospect of Karmichael Hunt and Tevita Kuridrani combining, but I’d have been just as happy with Samu Kerevi and Israel Folau.
Earlier in the year, I pondered that Cheika could pull any 12 and 13 combination out of a hat, and whatever he randomly came out with would be pretty handy, and felt that same way this week.
In the end he went with Kerevi and Kuridrani, and well, it’s a big pairing! Officially, they’re listed at 108kg and 102kg, respectively, if you need the confirmation. I’m sure there has been others since, but I had to think back as far as 2001 for a similarly sized pairing, when Nathan Grey teamed up with Dan Herbert for a couple of Tests, including England at Twickers.
They’ll certainly carry a size advantage over their English opposites, but the match-up with Luther Burrell and Johnathan Joseph is a really close one. And so in that regard, the midfield battle might actually come down to which no.10 flyhalf fires on the night.
Bernard Foley and Owen Farrell won’t decide the Test themselves; there will be far more to it than just them. But the bulk of the playmaking for either side will fall on their respective shoulders. And whichever of Foley and Farrell can best use their centres might well put their teams in a winning position.
The next step in the making of Bernard
From a Wallabies perspective, Cheika’s centre pairing really does put the focus firmly on Foley.
A few weeks ago, I wrote of the Waratahs that losing Kurtley Beale for the season could be the making of Folau the centre, in that he would have to be more proactive in creating opportunities himself. The same absolutely applies for Bernard Foley, who at ten had a real playmaking luxury in Beale outside him.
So for the same reason Folau had to be more proactive, Beale’s absence also forced Foley to increase his creative output in the sky blue jersey. Against the Crusaders in terrible conditions, there were certainly some promising signs.
But now Foley is on his own at Test level, and it comes with a completely different kind of pressure. Foley had a pretty solid Rugby World Cup overall, with matches of brilliance evened out by matches of relative quiet on the attacking front.
Where last year Foley could work with Matt Giteau, and with Beale or Matt Toomua playing cameos off the bench, this year he has nothing of the like. Christian Lealiifano is on the bench, but Foley could just as easily find himself being the one to make way.
So it’s all on Foley’s shoulders. Fire himself, and the Wallabies will quite likely follow. And if Foley can lead the Wallabies to a series victory over England, then his stocks as an international flyhalf can only rise.
After firing all the shots, has Eddie finally flinched?
If there was a surprise out of Australia and England naming their sides – and I’m a touch surprised Rory Arnold was named to start – it might be that Eddie Jones wasn’t quite as bold as I thought he might have been with his selection.
Some of that was injury-forced; there was plenty of talk that he wanted to hand Ben Te’o a Test debut, but the former Leinster centre’s inability to train for much of the week put paid to that. Regardless, Burrell is hardly second best at inside centre.
But there was also plenty of talk around ‘Super’ Maro Itoje moving from lock out to blindside, a prospect, which I was looking forward to. Instead, Jones has opted for essentially the same forward pack that won him the Six Nations. That’s probably fair enough, for the record, but might England have been stronger over the ball with Itoje on the side of the scrum.
Had Eddie flinched? Hard to know. What I do know is that Joe Launchbury will just have to put in his obligatory man of the match performance from the bench. And that would be something.
The ‘Frank and Dane’ Show
I don’t get much opportunity to watch European rugby, save for some recent finals, and thus, I’ve seen nothing of Francois Louw and Duane Vermeulen in action this season.
I’ll have to take other Roarers’ word for it, but if they’ve been able to carry their Rugby World Cup through for Bath and Toulon, respectively, then I probably missed out.
But I am looking forward to seeing what they can do against Ireland. And with Ireland naming the backrow they have – CJ Stander, Jordi Murphy, Jamie Heaslip – I fear that Louw and Vermeulen could have quite the day out.
In fact, Ireland might in for a tough day at Newlands all over the park, and I was absolutely thrilled to see Faf de Klerk and Lionel Mapoe both named last night. Both have been outstanding for the Lions this season, and thoroughly deserve the first shot at making the ‘Boks jersey their own.
Some kind of rebuild
It says something for your program when despite losing 700-plus Test caps worth of experience, you can bring in a bunch of replacements who can still manage upwards of 150 Tests between them. Such is New Zealand’s lot, as they kick off the weekend’s international viewing schedule in Auckland against Wales. The poor sods.
And speaking of having a rough time of it, the world was black and white the last time Wales beat New Zealand. Though lining up for his 100th Test, at least Alun-Wyn Jones will be able to tell his current teammates how his colleagues got the job done back in 1953.