The Thursday Two-up: What we learned about RWC rivals , which team produced the biggest surprise

After an absolutely enthralling series of July Test matches – and regardless of whether the results fell for or against your team – we now enter the next few weeks of renewed study and of introspection and reflection, all to work out how much work is required when our teams get thrown up on the hoist.

For our own teams, some things went well and other things not so much. Everyone won games, but some lost more than they bargained for. Series were won and series were lost. Series were rescued and series were thrown away completely.

Celebrations, honest reviews and assessments, or absolute, unadulterated sheer panic has ensued accordingly.

But this was also a time to get a look at a whole heap of other teams in our various necks of the woods at the same time. How did they go about things? What are other teams doing well that your team could do well to learn from?

It’s time to peer over the fence and learn from the neighbours. Or the neighbours’ visitors, perhaps.

We live, we look on and we learn. Or at least we should be learning…

Question 1: What did you learn most about your team’s opposition through the July internationals?

Brett

We Wallabies fans learned – as if it was ever in doubt – that there’s always life in England, no matter what kind of appearance they might be giving off.

Well beaten in Perth (despite what the scoreboard says), England found enough determination and sheer bloody-mindedness to just do enough to stay ahead in Brisbane and Sydney, and to their credit, it worked.

They found ways of pressuring the Wallabies attack in both games despite conceding 31 missed tackles in Brisbane and another 30 in Sydney. If the Wallabies had a better support game and a bit more finishing ability, we could be talking about a very different series result.

The other thing that comes to mind is something I’ve been thinking about since making mention of Eddie Jones’s praise of his skipper, Courtney Lawes, and the on-field leadership of Owen Farrell, Jack Nowell, and Ellis Genge in Tuesday’s column, and that is that England’s senior players are all performing well and this series has unearthed some exciting young players.

And that suggests to me that there might be a fair amount of improvement in England over the next 12 months yet.

(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

Digger

Just like the All Blacks coaches, I found out that Ireland are a really good side. Just joking (maybe).

In all seriousness, we knew this was a high-quality Irish side, and so they proved across nearly all facets, but what I didn’t fully appreciate was their clinical execution on attack, in particular in that third Test.

Incredibly ruthless and efficient once inside the All Blacks 22, they took their opportunities with style. Robbie Henshaw’s try was wonderfully manipulated and a highlight.

I can certainly chalk that up for me (and Fossie) as ‘learnings’ about this Irish side.

Geoff

How fitting that this week’s theme is about learning from Neighbours. The show, which ran for 37 years filmed its last episode on 10 June, was a phenomenon in the UK, and so it was no surprise that following the first Test loss in Perth, Courtney Lawes and his team swung by Ramsay Street in search of the inspiration and motivation needed to come back and take the series.

Forget Eddie Jones outfoxing Dave Rennie. Once Ellis Genge stood on the spot where Scott and Charlene had their first pash and Freddie Steward got to chat face to face with Harold Bishop, there was only ever going to be one outcome.

On top of that, what we learned from England was the value of having a tall, big-bodied No. 6. Rob Leota was given a fairly wide commission in the first two Tests and struggled to get his hands on the ball. Harry Wilson found more of it in the third but wasn’t able to impose a physical presence.

As for Ireland, they showed the value of cohesion. Here was a group of players who know each other backwards through club rugby and Six Nations campaigns looking highly organised in attack and defence. New Zealand, by contrast, looked more like a team of individuals, not all of whom were operating at the required capacity.

Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined by Kiwi writer Jamie Wall with all the fallout from the July Tests

Harry

I’m not sure I learned anything new about Wales in this series.

They can field a 1000-cap team, and they did. They have ten or so British Lions. They don’t make you tackle much – the Boks had to make only 80 tackles a Test – and they were the only team playing who averaged fewer than three metres a carry.

They don’t run into the Bok woodchipper turnover machine because they don’t want to give the Boks that kind of ball. They kick very high and very well and chase like dragons with diarrhoea.

I suppose Tommy Reffell was the big lesson. He won a starting No. 7 jersey from Leicester and was the primary player who deadened so many Boks raids in the Welsh 22. He was Pocockian.

The Wallabies have Wales in Pool C next year and must win to avoid England in the quarter-final. Patience is the key against Wales; they play the spoiler so well. They are full of guts.

I suppose I was a bit surprised at how tough Dan Biggar is, and I already thought he was hard as nails. He was hammered a dozen times and got up jabbering and pointing and ready to play.

(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Question 2: What surprised you most about another team outside of the series played in your country?

Brett

I need to preface these comments about Argentina with a simple point that I didn’t watch a minute of them against Scotland live, and I’ve had to rely on replays and highlights and score centres.

But I have been pleasantly surprised at how well they’ve been able to rally during this series, culminating in their incredible comeback in the Third Test in Santiago, where they came from 31-20 down to score two converted tries after the 67th minute and find the matchwinner in the 81st.

And that’s not to say Argentina have never been capable of this kind of fight. We all know they’re an incredibly passionate team who when all on the same page can indeed beat anyone on their day.

But since the very unfortunate COVID-forced demise of the Jaguares, Los Pumas players are once again scattered around the rugby world, so their ability to come together and the speed they could do it was always going to determine how well they’d go in the July Tests.

They’ve done it very well on my viewing, but there’s plenty of improvement in their game as well coming into the Rugby Championship. And they might just have the perfect coach to tap into the emotion and the passion they need to get up to speed quickly.

(Photo by Ross MacDonald/SNS Group via Getty Images)

Digger

Its either that Wales were really competitive in South Africa or that the Springboks were a little clunky at home, I’m not sure which, so I will run with both.

Tommy Reffell appeals as perhaps the best newcomer on the block with a lionhearted performance, and to be perfectly blunt, I just did not expect Wales to come close, let alone win a game.

While I expected the Springboks to be better, especially with getting sold-out signs back on the local menu, they don’t fool me. They will be well prepared to hit the ground running in a few weeks, but I would be nervous about Handre Pollard’s fitness.

Perhaps they lack a bit of depth in the all-important No. 10 jersey.

Geoff

The team that surprised me most was South Africa.

No disrespect is meant towards Wales, who I expected to be honest and competitive but easily defeated. Wales were indeed highly competitive, but only in the final Test was there anything like the kind of performance and scoreboard gap that I anticipated.

In Game 1 that was down to the Boks’ propensity to play too far within themselves, something I believed they would have had the confidence to have moved on from. The second Test brought wholesale changes; not great for cohesion, but there was still enough experience and ability in that side to have handled Wales.

A tad disappointing, but of course none of that will count for anything when they pull themselves together for the All Blacks.

Harry

I was surprised by the lack of a backlash by the All Blacks.

I mean, it was an angry, irrational and maybe even reckless retaliation. Their captain was sledged by the Irish flank, and I don’t see that it was ever avenged. It all just seemed mild and milquetoast.

I grew up with the belief the All Blacks were this tough, tough team with indomitable will and street smarts, but above all else, they were ruthless and so stacked with mana and fire that they would react to losses as if there was no tomorrow.

The Irish were very good, no doubt. But to me, the All Blacks did not show anger and piss and vinegar and a willingness to cross the line. They seemed to accept it. They were accommodating hosts.

That’s not the All Blacks I know and admire and have obsessed on since I was a wee lad watching giants.

Over to you

What did you learn about your team’s opposition during the July Tests?

And what surprised you most about some other teams during the internationals this month?