England still need to face sternest test of the Autumn

England showed tenacity and gall buy the bucket load in the face of adversity at the weekend, in a performance that may well be looked on in years to come as one of the defining moments of Eddie Jones’ tenure as England Head Coach. But this weekend they will have to show even more.

The injury list continues to grow as another star name in Billy Vunipola has been ruled out for 3 months with a serious injury. The backline will also need another adjustment with the suspension of Elliot Daly after his careless and dangerous tackle on the hapless Leonardo Senatore at the weekend.

Nathan Hughes and Semesa Rokoduguni are the likely candidates to fill the void but with just Chris Robshaw left from the back row that led England to victory in the summer remaining in the squad, this will be a very different team and proposition for Australia to face and they may see that back row combination as the place to start picking England apart.

Ireland put icing on Autumnal cake

Ireland have pulled off some big wins in the past but the significance and importance of the one against Australia at the weekend may well be up there.

All three of the big SANZAR nations have been felled this year and although they didn’t go unbeaten over the Autumn, their revenge loss to New Zealand could have been much different had some refereeing decisions gone their way.

The way they are playing is direct and accurate. There is no fear now to take the perceived ‘big three’ on at their own game and they have scored 16 tries in four matches. Admittedly 8 were against Canada but the five that they scored in defeating the All Blacks is a more telling stat of their attacking prowess.

They must now be placed on the same elevated platform as England and who isn’t dreaming of a Grand Slam decider between the two of them in Dublin on March 18th?

Hogg the Lion

If the first test in New Zealand was tomorrow then there would surely only be one man that could take the 15 shirt – Stuart Hogg.

Again and again he pulls rabbits out of hats and so it was the same at Rugby Park in Kilmarnock.

His first mixed a large slice of luck with vision and ambition. Static and with nowhere to go he dinked the ball over the top into a gap and the wicked bounce came straight back into his hands and away he went unopposed for the try. The best bit about the try was his determination to get the ball back. He never broke stride and gambled on the bounce of the ball coming his way, but fortune favours the brave.

Hogg just offers that something different to others in Britain and Ireland and his unpredictability is what the Lions will need if they are to overturn the All Blacks in their own back yard.

Mind the gap please…what gap?

The gap that everyone talks about between the Northern and Southern Hemisphere looks like it may have been almost shut after the last four weeks and hopefully the final stitches will be sewn in this weekend.

In head to head matches between Six Nations teams and The Rugby Championship teams, the Six Nations are currently 8 wins to The Rugby Championship’s 6. A very telling stat also is that no country will be returning down south with a ‘Grand Slam’ tour under their belts. A true grand slam tour would mean playing all four home nations, which only Australia is doing, but all of them have been defeated at least once by a Northern Hemisphere team which rarely happens.

New Zealand, despite defeat in Chicago to Ireland, is still the benchmark for everyone to aspire to and if truth be told it has started to look like long seasons are now taking their toll on some players post Super Rugby and The Rugby Championship campaigns, but that is certainly not an excuse anyone has heard to date.

The introduction of a global rugby calendar will certainly be high on the agenda to combat this.

The Six Nations is going to be a cracker

Last year’s tournament was abject at best. A developing England team coasted to a Grand Slam without being overly tested but this year’s competition has the makings of being a true classic.

England have continued in their development, Scotland now have a backline and front five to be feared whilst Ireland have added a hard edge to an already talented squad. Even France have shown signs of a renaissance over the Autumn.

Wales are struggling. There is no hiding from it. A win against South Africa has put some shiny gloss over many cracks that are running deeper than just what is happening on the pitch.

If you go through their squad man for man then it is still as strong as ever, but there remain big doubts over whether Rob Howley is the right man to bring them all together.

Italy proved once again that they always have one fantastic performance in them but is always likely to be followed by a catastrophic one like this weekend.

It’s going to be full of drama whatever happens.

Pacific Cruise

A story that may well have snuck under the radar of excitement at the weekend is that all three pacific island teams collected wins. Fiji’s first half blitz on Japan was enough to gain an impressive victory before Samoa sneaked past Canada by two points.

The most impressive victory, maybe of the entire weekend, was Tonga beating Bok-bashing Italy at the Stadio Euganeo in Padova with Newcastle Falcons scrum half Sonatane Takulua scoring 14 of Tonga’s 19 points.

Andy Daniel
Follow Andy on Twitter (@scrum5ive)

Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images