Try of the autumn: Jonny May, England vs New Zealand
Cobus Reinach’s effort (or more specifically, the build-up from Lambie and le Roux) deserves an honourable mention, but for sheer individual brilliance it’s impossible to look beyond Jonny May’s effort just four minutes into England’s season. For a year we’d been shouting at him to back himself a bit more, and he finally decided to do it, first skinning Conrad Smith – one of the most astute defenders in the modern game – and then beating Israel Dagg, without so much as a fingertip being laid upon him, in a five metre channel. A finer individual finish you will not see this year. Skip to 0.20 in the video below to enjoy it again.
Video credit: England Rugby
Player of the autumn: Johnny Sexton
A few pushed him close but Sexton has been the architect of Ireland’s best autumn for quite some time. The fly-half ensured that against both South Africa and Australia, the opposition’s dangerous back three – boasting two of the best counter-attackers in the world in the shape of Israel Folau and Willie le Roux – couldn’t make any discernible impact on the game. He kicked 13 from 14 off the tee which meant the game rapidly moved away from whoever Ireland were playing. His half-back partnership with Conor Murray has now matured into one of, if not the, best in the world.
Team performance of the autumn: Ireland, against South Africa
Where did this come from? Not many had predicted a win for injury-ravaged Ireland before the game (just 2.5% on SuperBru!) but they came out and dismantled the Springboks in what was one of the most intelligent 80 minutes of rugby for some time. They nullified the South African rolling maul threat by standing off and blasted the breakdown with a relentless physicality the Springboks themselves usually pride themselves on. Orchestrated by Conor Murray and Johnny Sexton, it was a superb performance.
Best test: Ireland vs Australia
Nods to Scotland vs Argentina and Wales vs New Zealand, but Ireland vs Australia wins this award for the first half an hour alone, which was amongst the most breathlessly brilliant I’ve seen in my time watching rugby. The first half went literally at a point a minute and included five sublime tries, and the way Australia came back into the game after Ireland stormed to a 17-0 lead had home fans chewing their fingernails in memory of the All Blacks game last year. If the second half only had nine points in it, it was a glorious arm wrestle between two sides desperate to come away with a win after their heroics in the first forty.
Breakthrough player of the autumn: Finn Russell
Teddy Thomas was in the running until he missed a training session, got dropped and France’s autumn duly unravelled, while George Ford deserves a mention. But more promising than both of these two was Scotland fly-half Finn Russel. Whisper it quietly, but the Scots may actually have unearthed a player who is genuinely good at all facets of the game a fly-half needs to be. Yes! It’s true! He kicks well from hand, he attacks the gainline and his distribution is good. Having Greig Laidlaw kicking for goal means he can isn’t distracted by that, either, and he didn’t seem overawed by playing against one of the all-time great, albeit slightly rusty, fly-halves, in the form of Dan Carter.
Biggest disappointment: South Africa
France came close to taking this award and if it was named ‘Biggest Frustration’, they would walk it. But despite a dire loss to Argentina in their last game, France had shocked everyone with back-to-back wins, allied with good performances, over Fiji and Australia, which means their autumn was probably more positive than negative. The same cannot be said for South Africa who, one moment of utter brilliance against England aside, were largely poor this autumn. What makes it all the more disappointing is how good they had been just a few months previously when beating the All Blacks. There was no evidence of the same attacking intent this tour, and that is what makes their November more disappointing than those other teams that underwhelmed (England, for example).
Most entertaining side: Australia
It may have been a poor autumn for the Wallabies results-wise, but there’s no doubt they are still the game’s great entertainers. They didn’t score the most tries over the past month, but those they did were invariably of a high quality – mainly because they do not have a pack capable of grinding out the kind of ugly try that tends to win games (see: South Africa, England). It makes for a team who never fail to put on a good spectacle – their games against Ireland, Wales and France were all of the highest quality in terms of the attacking talent on show – but who will never quite make it into the top echelon because their forwards simply aren’t good enough. Put that back-line behind a decent pack and they would be right up there with New Zealand.
Lifetime achievement award: Bakkies Botha
The great South African lock – one half of what was, in its prime, one of the greatest engine room duos ever to have played the game – announced his retirement after the Italy game. Aged 35 and with 85 caps to his name, Botha was one of the key components in the squad that won the 2007 World Cup. A snarling, aggressive beast of a player, if there were a pictographic rugby dictionary, you would see his face next to the word ‘enforcer’. He will now retire to Toulon where he will continue to terrorise the rest of Europe for years to come, no doubt, before perhaps Matfield-ing back into the Springbok team when they have a locking crisis in the build-up to the 2019 World Cup. You heard it here first.
By Jamie Hosie
Follow Jamie on Twitter: @jhosie43
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
As you know by now, we are hilarious, and you should be following us on Facebook and Twitter. 