New Zealand, South Africa, Australia and Argentina started to build towards the Rugby World Cup in earnest this weekend, as a truncated Rugby Championship got under way with matches in Christchurch and Brisbane.
On Friday, New Zealand beat Argentina with relative ease in the former, while Australia mounted a stunning comeback in the last two minutes to beat South Africa to win the second match of the weekend on Saturday.
While not everyone would necessarily expect Australia to beat South Africa, the results were as expected with the favourites winning in both cases and the broad Rugby World Cup picture remains largely unchanged.
There were, though, some points of interest for rugby fans as the countdown to RWC 2015 begins to pick up pace.
New Zealand – weakness against the driving maul
New Zealand did the needful against Argentina, with their superior skills to the fore and some superb place-kicking from Dan Carter among the plus points. Kieran Read was at his brilliant best in the back row.
The match emphasised the fact that the sheer quality of player New Zealand can field is their greatest advantage. Imagine if the majority of serious athletes in Ireland had the goal of becoming rugby internationals as their main aim. Rugby is religion and it shows in the athleticism from one to fifteen. Even those in specialist set-piece positions are well capable of contributing in general play.
But they aren’t perfect.
For those looking to build a case for why the All Blacks might yet again fail at a Rugby World Cup, their struggles against the maul are worth a mention. A relatively weak Argentina selection scored two tries in a purple patch in the second half and both came from lineout drives. New Zealand opted not to contest the throw on both occasions but failed to bring the necessary technique, power or focus to stopping the Pumas once they got moving.
That ‘no compete’ defence often delivers less than it promises with jumpers landing fully balanced and ready to rock, and the defenders on the ground struggling to time their effort and get in among a tightly bound driving unit. It’s a problem that New Zealand will fix quickly but at the very least it shows that even the best in world can have slippage in certain areas from time to time.
The weekend also saw Richie McCaw make his last home appearance for the All Blacks, and move a step closer to Brian O'Driscoll's Test caps world record. He is now just two behind O'Driscoll (141) on 139 and, all going well, the All Blacks skipper will eclipse that before he retires after RWC 2015. Carter (33) will continue playing with a lucrative deal with Racing Metro lined up for after the tournament.
Australia – half-back change sparks sensational comeback
What about Australia? They beat South Africa in one of the better Test matches in some time. South Africa didn’t exactly dominate the first 70 minutes but they tackled most of what Australia threw at them and picked off a couple of tries when opportunities presented. There were no ‘highlight reel’ attacking moments, but their wide spacing in the backline and powerful running gave them enough momentum and field position.
The Boks also had major success at the breakdown, picking off turnovers whenever Australia’s levels dipped in contact.
For their part, Australia frequently ran out of momentum and ideas, and were also slightly unlucky to see a few brilliantly crafted attacks just fail to produce scores. Israel Folau, who recently signed a new deal that will keep him with Australia until 2018, was at the heart of the best of it, showing the by-now expected sensational skills in broken play and under high kicks. Capable of playing three sports at the highest level, we're lucky to have him in Union.
Half-back looked to be the problem as Will Genia and Quade Cooper struggled to recapture their form of a few years ago. Were ever as good as the hype or has the game simply moved on from their brand of rugby?
Whatever the reason, Cooper’s collection of tricks, steps and Playstation passes weren't connecting in the main, though in fairness he did supply a scoring inside pop off a set play to Adam Ashley-Cooper in the first half. Worse again, Cooper's tendency to take everything out of the ball limited the effectiveness of Matt Giteau and Tevita Kuridrani outside him.
At scrum-half, Genia’s passing was markedly slower and less powerful than that of opposite number Ruan Pienaar. The introduction of Nick Phipps for Genia at half-time after Genia had picked up a knee injury shifted the momentum in Australia’s favour and they gradually got closer through the second half.
Australia still needed something special in the end and they got it when with less than a minute on the clock, they were given a controversial late penalty by Nigel Owens.
Owens spotted some suspect rucking technique as the Boks looked to close the match out without allowing a contest for possession in the final minute. In fairness, as the video makes clear, he was absolutely right.
Cooper (twice) and Matt Giteau had already missed penalty chances to tie the scores at that point. Whether for that reason or something else, Australia captain Stephen Moore opted to kick to touch near the Springbok line with less than 30 seconds remaining.The decision paid off when, after a fraught passage of play, the TMO eventually decided that Australia centre Tevita Kuridrani had grazed the line with the ball for the winning score. A morale-boosting victory for Australia.
Was it a try? It looks like Kuridrani just got there.
Finally found a vine of the final #AUSvRSA try. Amazing effort from the @Wallabies. #WorldCup2015 creeping up... https://t.co/Gj9tfXv3ZM
— Liam Brennan (@LCBrennan) July 18, 2015
Saturday reaffirmed that the likes of Phipps, Giteau, Matt Toomua, Nic White and Bernard Foley will be the key men in those 9-10-12 positions when the Rugby World Cup rolls around.
As for Cooper, six matches short of playing the number of Tests that would allow him to play for Australia as an overseas player, it now appears that he may stay in Australia with sevens rugby and the Rio Olympics his new target. Sonny Bill Williams, with whom Cooper shares an agent, is also rumoured to be a likely Rio participant.
Still just 27, Cooper’s Test career has never looked more fragile. A rumoured move to Toulon, apparently put on ice in the last few days, may yet become a reality.
Genia, with 58 caps and considered the best in the world a few short years ago, could certainly do a job for Australia in a certain type of match.
On balance though, he also looks unlikely to be a central figure this autumn. That said, he is likely to pick up the two caps which would make him a qualifying overseas player before possibly linking up with Bath after RWC 2015.
Elsewhere, the dilemma of how to play Michael Hooper and David Pocock in the same XV may be slightly closer to resolution with Pocock possibly set for a start at number eight. Hooper confirmed he is the best tackler pound-for-pound in rugby right now but Pocock also had a few class moments in his first Test since 2012.
Ridiculously excited about pulling on the green and gold again tonight. Thanks for all the support over last few years. #gameday #enjoyment
— David Pocock (@pocockdavid) July 17, 2015
