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Opinion
What did we learn from the weekend of rugby? Things are going well up north so some, but not all.
It comes to something when you realise that in the time Ireland have been top of the World Rugby rankings the United Kingdom has burned its way through three Prime Ministers.
It may only amount to a matter of a few months but credit where credit is due: Andy Farrell’s men have far more resilience, aptitude, inner toughness and integrity about them than any of that grubby lot chasing power in and around Downing Street.
It’s a decent bet that Ireland might even see off another PM by the time they are toppled from their perch given that they showed ample reserves of what makes them tick in accounting for world champions South Africa on a raucous Saturday night in Dublin (yes, I know, aren’t all Saturday nights in the fair city blessed with noise and fun?)
But the locals had come to Lansdowne Rd not just to salute their heroes of the summer, the team that had created history by beating the All Blacks and taking a series down in New Zealand for the first time ever but also to find out if the team really are genuine World Cup contenders.
Of course the rankings tell you that they are but for all the fleeting kudos that goes with being top of the pile no-one sets too much store by the standings unless a side stays there for a long time. And I mean a long time. Longer than the feckless fools in Westminster that’s for sure.
The All Blacks have managed it time and again. England did, too. Clive Woodward set his side that very target following the pitiful World Cup campaign in 1999 when they trudged back from a quarter-final defeat to South Africa in Paris.
Woodward told his men that they had to arrive in Australia as the number one ranked side in the world or they could forget any thoughts of being world champions. And they did, beating the best the southern hemisphere could throw at them 12 times in succession until lifting the trophy in Sydney.
Ireland do not yet have the aura that Woodward’s England had. But their gritty 19-16 win over the ‘Boks showed a few key things – that that are building depth, (see how they coped in midfield where they where already without centres, Robbie Henshaw and Bundee Aki, lost Ulster’s Stuart McCloskey to early injury only for debutant Jimmy O’Brien to step into the breach), that they have a pack of forwards that can go toe-to-toe with the best sluggers in the business, and, crucially, that they can deal with the pressure of favouritism.
Of course, they still have to surmount that thorny old question of how to keep 37 year old Johnny Sexton fit and firing but their fans know only too well that World Cups seem to give their boys the heeby-jeebies. Ireland have never made it past the quarter-final stage.
These two sides are in the same pool at next year’s World Cup. The manner in which they dealt with the Springbok challenge on Saturday night suggests they are on the right path. They were not perfect by any means, not dominant and overwhelming as England were in the early noughties or various Kiwi iterations have been, but they know what they are about. We now know that they will be a right handful for anyone in France 2023.
Jonathan Sexton (Photo By Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)
Eddie Jones finally had to cede bragging rights to his old Randwick mucker, Michael Cheika, his England side losing to Argentina at Twickenham (29-30) for the first time since 2006. That defeat led pretty soon afterwards to the sacking of England head coach, Andy Robinson.
That sort of question has swirled around Jones at various times during his eight year tenure but he has plenty in the bank to take him through to France next year even if a loss to his old Japanese charges next weekend might cause a few jeers to tumble down from the Twickenham stands.
Jones’s win-loss against Cheika stood at 7 and 0 but such has been the form of Los Pumas this year with victories over New Zealand and Australia it meant this fixture was always going to be a tester. Emiliano Boffelli scored 25 points, a haul that included a cracking try.
England had so much possession but so little idea as to how it use it. Their attack was clunky and one-dimensional, all the more troubling given that their set-piece was productive. There can be no excuses for such a lacklustre performance. They are a middling team at best.
These sides are in the same World Cup pool. As a dress rehearsal, England fluffed their lines. There is much work to do.
Eddie Jones. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
Eight tries away from home, a record points total in Cardiff (55) and an imperious performance – you’d have to say New Zealand are back in the groove.
The star was Ardie Savea, who not only roamed and roared his way round the Principality Stadium with the ease and confidence of a man playing in his own back yard but who also managed to throw a theatrical dummy that would not have been out of place on the West End stage – an act of ridiculous contrivance but good fun to boot.
New Zealand may only just have scraped past Japan ( 31-38) seven days earlier but it’s high time we stopped being so condescending towards the Brave Blossoms. Their showing at the 2019 World Cup should have put paid to such patronising nonsense but it hasn’t quite done so yet.
The All Blacks had to step up a gear and they did. Aaron Smith looks as sharp as ever has done at scrum-half, nabbing a couple of tries, while the switch of Jordie Barrett to centre looks as if it will bring craft and substance to their midfield.
Dalton Papali’l looks a real force too on the flank in the absence of the injured Sam Cane. And Wales? Oh dear. They had their moments with a sweet try for new boy wing, Rio Dyer, but they folded far too easily. It’s true that they get better the deeper into the season it goes but that is clutching at straws on this showing.
France left it late to see off the Wallabies (30-29) in Paris with Damian Penaud showing a clean pair of heels to the Aussie defence as he scooted in for a late winner at the Stade de France.
And even though Fabien Galthie’s side did not have the swagger or heft of their 2022 Six Nations Grand Slam days there is still a real crackle about everything to do with French rugby at the moment.
There was a buzz in the stadium, a fair achievement for what used to be a concrete soulless bowl on the edge of Paris, a sense that it is all coming to the boil rather nicely for events in 10 months’ time. France have a heady time ahead of them. This was a decent kick-start to that quest for glory.
Scotland were flat and fractured for long stretches of their 28-12 win over Fiji.
Italy showed polish and guile in defeating Samoa 49-17.
Mick Cleary, who was Daily Telegraph rugby correspondent ( 1997-2021), was also a sports feature writer for The Observer ( 1988-1997). Cleary has covered eight Rugby World Cups as well as seven Lions tours. He was written several books on those tournaments and tours as well as worked with Jeremy Guscott on his autobiography. Cleary has also had extensive experience of other sports including tennis at Wimbledon, cycling at the Tour de France and golf at The Open. Cricket, athletics , horse racing and F1 also feature on his CV.