JOE’S MEN ARE RIGHT ON COURSE
Ireland’s successful tour is perfect build-up for Japan
IT WAS very much a mixed bag for the northern hemisphere sides after a month of highly entertaining summer tours. Of course, no side will be more pleased with their work than Ireland with Joe Schmidt’s men taking a series win against a strong Australia team who will be one of main threats to New Zealand’s bid to win a third World Cup title in a row in Japan next year.
For some, the summer tours presented a chance to test their squad’s depth against struggling opponents. However, for Eddie Jones’ England, the past month has only served to pile on the pressure as the walls continue to collapse around a team that only last year were recognised as serial winners.
Here, we rate the fortunes of the northern hemisphere sides over the past month as their players head for some well-earned time off after another demanding season.
IRELAND
JUNE 9 Brisbane
Australia 18 Ireland 9
JUNE 16 Melbourne
Australia 21 Ireland 26
JUNE 23 Sydney
Australia 16 Ireland 20 JOE SCHMIDT will have taken huge satisfaction with the manner in which his squad recovered from the first Test loss in Brisbane to take a 2-1 series victory in Australia.
However, he won’t get carried away despite being at the helm during the most successful season for an Ireland rugby team.
Deservedly ranked second in the world and with a trophy cabinet that is beginning to look tight on space, things couldn’t be healthier ahead of the World Cup in Japan next year.
September 2019 is a long way off though and, speaking after the third Test, the Ireland head coach was quick to point out how much can change over the course of a season.
‘It is so fickle, so competitive and I know how quickly it can turn,’ Schmidt warned.
‘This time two years ago, England won a Grand Slam and they went one better than us, they won 3-0 here against Australia.’
To guard against suffering a similar slide, building depth over the course of next term will be the Kiwi’s priority.
Key leaders such as Johnny Sexton, Conor Murray, Tadhg Furlong and Peter O’Mahony once again outlined their importance to this team against the Wallabies, so don’t expect to see them clock up too many minutes for their provinces next season.
Instead, Schmidt will want to see further improvement in the likes of Jordan Larmour, Andrew Porter and Joey Carbery — players who are only a calf strain or failed HIA away from being called into front-line action in Japan.
Similarly, while players such as Niall Scannell, Jack Conan and Tadhg Beirne have impressed when given a chance, Schmidt will be keen to see them kick on in order to provide real competition for places among his squad during the countdown to the World Cup. SUMMER SCORE: 9/10
WALES
JUNE 2 Washington DC
South Africa 20 Wales 22
JUNE 9 San Juan
Argentina 10 Wales 23
JUNE 16 Santa Fe
Argentina 12 Wales 30
A hat-trick of wins will have done a world of good for the confidence and morale in this Wales squad.
While South Africa and Argentina may not be the forces they once were, the fact that Wales were able to get the job done without experienced stars like Alun Wyn Jones, Taulupe Faletau, Dan Biggar, Aaron Shingler and longterm absentee Sam Warburton means that Warren Gatland will be hugely pleased with their work in June with his back-row options looking particularly healthy.
Having jumped up to third in the world rankings yesterday, Gatland’s men have every reason to be confident heading into the new season.
If the New Zealander can continue to blood new players — while keeping his key men fit — they will be able to cause serious problems for anyone in Japan. SUMMER SCORE: 7/10
ENGLAND
JUNE 9 Johannesburg
South Africa 42 England 39
JUNE 16 Bloemfontein
South Africa 23 England 12
JUNE 23 Cape Town
South Africa 10 England 25
IT’S hard to comprehend how quickly the Eddie Jones England project has fallen apart with England.
Winning a dead rubber clash against an experimental South Africa counted for very little in Cape Town at the weekend, and the problems are now so severe that the RFU have not ruled out replacing Jones before the World Cup.
With a difficult Six Nations opener against Ireland in Dublin, England need to start plugging holes quickly.
The return of Danny Cipriani after a three-year international hiatus was one of the few positive notes, while 20-year-old openside Tom Curry made a big impression over his three starts in the white shirt. However, the fact that England’s bench made no real impact over the three games will have raised alarms.
Despite their massive player pool, England are still reliant on key men such as Owen Farrell and Maro Itoje. It means Jones needs to cultivate more genuine competition for places in his starting 15.
There is plenty of hard work ahead after a summer tour that has only served to present more questions than answers. SUMMER SCORE: 4/10
SCOTLAND
JUNE 9 Edmonton
Canada 10 Scotland 48
JUNE 16 Houston
USA 30 Scotland 29
JUNE 23 Resistencia
Argentina 15 Scotland 44
WHILE the 44-15 scoreline racked up in defeating Argentina is an impressive tally, it is always hard to shake the feeling that Scotland will struggle to perform consistently against more challenging opposition.
The shock one-point defeat to the USA a week previously was a disaster, even allowing for the fact that seven of Scotland’s starting team were making their first international starts — it was the USA’s first win over Tier One opposition.
Still, the emergence of fresh talent is always a good sign, and seeing the half-back pairing of Adam Hastings and George Horne pull the strings against Argentina is an encouraging sign for a team that have too often relied on a handful of key individuals to carry them. SUMMER SCORE: 5/10
FRANCE
JUNE 9 Auckland
New Zealand 52 France 11
JUNE 16 Wellington
New Zealand 26 France 13
JUNE 23 Dunedin
New Zealand 49 France 14
FRANCE are right to feel aggrieved by some of the officiating in their tour of New Zealand, but Les Bleus never had a hope of beating Steve Hansen’s All Blacks.
That said, it was encouraging to see France stick to their task even as the All Blacks ran in four unanswered second-half tries in the final Test with the series already decided.
Previous French teams would have thrown in the towel, but there is a different feel about Jacques Brunel’s side who managed to play plenty of decent rugby across the three defeats to the world champions.
Like England, the demands placed on the French players in their domestic league has a knock-on effect with the national team. And at the end of a long season, it doesn’t get any more difficult than facing the All Blacks in their own back yard.
Even sneaking a draw would have been a shock, so France can be proud of their efforts against the game’s standard bearers. SUMMER SCORE: 6/10
ITALY
JUNE 9 Oita
Japan 34 Italy 17
JUNE 16 Kobe
Japan 22 Italy 25
Beating Japan in the second of their two Tests ended an eight-game losing streak. However, there are still plenty of problems facing the Azzurri who almost let a healthy lead slip as the hosts fought back in the second half at the weekend.
Conor O’Shea sees fixing Italian rugby as a long-term job, but with just two wins from 18 games since the start of the 2017 Six Nations, there comes a point when you have to ask what progress is being made.
In November, Italy will face Ireland, Georgia, Australia and New Zealand over four consecutive weeks. A couple of hidings will do little to suggest that O’Shea has this team on the right track. SUMMER SCORE: 5/10