England record first win over South Africa in a decade

It has been a long wait, but England finally banished the South Africa hoodoo, and they did it with aplomb. In a run that stretched ten years and twelve matches, the comfortable 37-21 scoreline that terminated that period seemed to signal a power shift in world rugby. It also extended Eddie Jones’ 100% record at the start of his England reign, which is a magnificent transformation from where England have been in recent years, and particularly where they were this time last year.

The early signs were not so good from the red rose. Pat Lambie landed a penalty and drop-goal to establish a decent lead, and perhaps started to sow seeds of doubt. The returning Jonny May eased those fears as he sprinted over the line for a purposeful converted score after a great move from a line-out. England let their discipline go once again as Lambie retook the lead, but following that, Jones’ team started to find their rhythm. Owen Farrell put the hosts back ahead, and another try followed. Chaos rained down as JP Pietersen dropped a kick and, after a hack through, Courtney Lawes dropped on the ball over the whitewash. A monstrous Elliot Daly penalty rounded off the scoring for the first half, giving his side a solid lead.

After the restart, the excellent Ben Youngs found space with a ludicrous dummy and fed George Ford to extend the lead. Johan Goosen helped himself to a breakaway score to give faint hope, but Youngs again dummied and fed Farrell for another try. Wasps’ recruit, Willie Le Roux got a consolation, yet the celebrations were all for the home team and their crowd.

Jones is a wily operator, and will know that he has to take one game at a time, but with Fiji and Argentina up next, Australia in the final game are perhaps the only side capable of stopping a perfect calendar year. South Africa are a shadow of the team they have been for as long as I can remember. If things don’t improve, they may struggle against a poor Italian team, and even an out of sorts Wales should beat them without too much hassle.

Jones shines in Scotland loss

Despite all of the good play, Scotland were left reeling against Australia once more. After the controversy that surrounded their World Cup exit against the visitors last year, the Scots entered a raucous Murrayfield with revenge on the agenda. For the entirety of the first half, and most of the second, it looked like that would be the case. Alas, if Vern Cotter’s side can be relied on for one thing, it is a heartbreaking loss. A late Wallaby converted try left the scores 23-22 in favour of the gold and green, and denied the hosts a famous victory.

From the off, the tone was set; both sides wanted to attack and were keen to entertain the crowd. The Scots struck first as captain Greig Laidlaw slotted a penalty, and that lead was subsequently extended. An impeccably timed run from Huw Jones, who was making his starting debut, allowed him to latch on to Finn Russell’s precise kick and fly under the posts. Australia then hit back. Reece Hodge was the scorer at the end of a sumptuous move off a line out, and Bernard Foley followed it with a conversion and a penalty. Both sides continued to cut the other up, but the defences showed remarkable resolve. The final score of the opening period was another from Jones, who goose-stepped and ghosted through the defence. Scotland started from where they left off, with Jonny Gray (who never seems to do his Lions chances any harm) responding to another Foley penalty with a muscular barge over the line, which went unconverted. Michael Cheika’s men then seized control, scoring another penalty and keeping the ball in Scotland’s half. However, the defence of the hosts was sublime, forcing turnovers and shutting the Wallabies out. That was until a missed tackle with four minutes to go, when Australia only had fourteen men, allowed Tevita Kuridrani to clinch the game. The hosts never gave up, keeping hold of the ball and looking for a winner until the death, but the ball popped lose and heads ended up in hands.

The Wallabies continue on their tour of Europe with a grand slam still on the cards, and whilst they may not have hit top gear, when they have the ball, they look as deadly as ever. Scotland can play as well as they want, and they do play some lovely rugby, but results are now the vital thing to take them to the next level. With games against Georgia and Argentina to come, two wins is non-negotiable.

Wales hold off stubborn Pumas

They may not have been perfect, but Wales got an all-important win over Argentina on Saturday. A week on from the horror-show against Australia, they managed to actually score some deserved points in an uncomfortable 24-20 victory.

It was a strange game, resembling basketball at times in the first forty. This was mostly dominated by the hosts, but they failed to display that on the scoreboard, with only a couple of Leigh Halfpenny kicks giving them a 6-3 lead at the turnaround. The second half did bring the tries, though, with the excellent Liam Williams (why he doesn’t play in his best position is beyond me) finishing exceptionally well to build the lead. Quick thinking from Martin Landajo on a quick tap penalty sent Hernandez over for a score. Gareth Davies then reestablished the lead, wrestling over the line, but the Welsh could never shake the Pumas. Landajo barged over for one of his own, and only a late Halfpenny penalty put enough daylight between the teams to ease nerves.

There were only minor changes to the team, but they highlighted exactly what Wales need in order to regain their form and push on to compete with the best in the world. Time will tell if they revert to type, or roll the dice some more. The Pumas had their moments, but they looked like they were at the end of a long and tiring season, which doesn’t bode well for the remaining games.

Ireland keep the party going, Italy struggle whilst France dazzle

The euphoria of beating the All Blacks perhaps contributed to Ireland’s floundering in their fixture against Canada. It was only in the last twenty minutes when the hosts really broke free to record a 52-21 win. The visitors put in a sterling performance, being only seven points behind with nearly sixty minutes gone, but the class and fitness of Ireland became the difference. With wholesale changes, clicking was going to be difficult, however the players looked hungry enough to try and break into the first choice squad. The most important thing was to not let the players from last week rest on their laurels, and to keep the morale high. They succeeded in both.

Italy played their first home game under Connor O’Shea. Unsurprisingly, they lost heavily to an All Blacks side with a point to prove. After last week’s historic loss, they ran in ten tries, with the only blemishes being a missed conversion and a try they conceded. The 68-10 loss may give little hope to an Azzurri team in transition. Fortunately, they are in a no-lose situation against South Africa next.

Virimi Vakatawa was at his devastating best against Samoa. His hat-trick helped France win by a massive 52 points to 8. The Toulouse crowd were treated to one of the best performances from their national side in recent memory. It went to show what spending a bit of time training together can actually do.

England’s next opponents, Fiji, went down heavily to the Barbarians in Belfast. The sevens Olympic and world champions came up some way short in the fifteen man game, losing 40-7. How they can be expected to compete with top tier nations when they have so much going against them is a mystery. The same could be said for any Pacific Island team.

Beauden Barrett crowned Player of the Year

All Blacks’ fly-half Beauden Barrett won the World Rugby Player of the Year award last night, ahead of the likes of Maro Itoje (who won the Breakthrough Player of the Year), Dane Coles and Billy Vunipola, who were also nominated.

Sarah Hunter scooped the Women’s Player of the Year award, whilst New Zealand and Steve Hansen claimed the Team and Coach of the Year awards respectively.

Bayonne rock Top 14

Bayonne produced arguably the upset of the season on Saturday. Clermont, who have been tearing up every competition so far, travelled to the bottom club confident of yet another win. The nature of the Top14 is never so predictable. Even with the frequent home wins in the league, the 22-14 result in favour of Bayonne is something to celebrate. In England, we need to build up the quality of the championship, and expand the league, so results like this become more commonplace.

Montpellier narrowly beat new boys Lyon 25-20 on the south coast. The visitors were on a high after beating Toulon, and Montpellier were victims of a player on a mission to derail his own team (Timoci Nagusa threw his teddy out of the cot pre-game, then proceeded to get a yellow card), but Jake White’s team continued their decent season.

Bordeaux scored a late winner to beat Grenoble away, 24-22. Castres continued their mixed first half of the campaign, beating Brive 32-13. Pau produced another upset against champions Racing 26-17. Sunday’s games witnessed La Rochelle reclaim second position with a 25-19 win over Toulouse, and Toulon climb to third, crushing Stade Francais 31-12.

Try of the weekend

Scoring off first phase requires something pretty special. Also, the defence they were doing it against was mostly excellent, so Reece Hodge’s effort for the Wallabies caught the eye. The running lines were fast and fierce, and the hands were delicate. Perhaps he should have made the pass to the man outside him, but he scored my try of the week, so, who cares?

Jonny May’s try also deserves a mention, after a sublime first-phase move by England’s backs. We’ll try and find the video for that one too.

Hero of the weekend

With a first start coming at home against Australia, nerves must surely kick in. Not for Huw Jones, who got a brace of tries, as well as making some very key defensive interventions. He was in a losing cause, but could not have done any more.

Villain of the weekend

I am aware that it is creeping more and more into the game, but Dan Biggar does my head in with his appealing to the referee. Most of the time it is literally for nothing, and it makes him difficult to like. He is not the only one, but he is the worst. Alun Wyn Jones set a model example for his fly-half when he conceded a penalty, simply saying “thank you” and getting on with the game. Please learn, Dan.

By Joe Large

Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images