Is there too much focus on the Webb Ellis Cup?
● The coaches of all the major rugby-playing nations will have Thursday’s date marked in red.
It marks one year to the start of the Rugby World Cup in France and not taking stock will be an opportunity lost for the game’s foremost tacticians.
The one-year mark ahead of the tournament has never been riddled with so much uncertainty. While the time-honoured world order dictates that New Zealand, and to a lesser degree SA and Australia, as even maybe England, get handed the favourites’ mantle a year ahead of the tournament, this year is very different.
Going into this weekend’s fixtures, Ireland sits atop the world rankings, followed by France, SA, England, New Zealand and Australia, while Argentina, Scotland, Wales and Japan complete the top 10.
Two of the teams that reached the semifinals of the last RWC are now ranked fifth and ninth, while the finalists rank third and fourth.
Topsy-turvy top 10
That provides a snapshot of the topsy-turvy nature of the game among its leading protagonists.
While Ireland, who toppled the All Blacks in their backyard earlier this year have done well over the last few years to rise to the top of the rankings, they are yet to play in the semifinal of a RWC.
A more immediate concern is their failure to win widely contested silverware since 2018.
Having gone unbeaten for more than a year, France are perhaps the game’s pre-eminent force.
They won the Six Nations with a team built around power, precision and depth. They also have a head coach in Fabien Galthié who understands French rugby, as he does the currents that carry the global game.
The fact that the All Blacks will have Ian Foster as their coach at the next RWC will not imbue many Kiwis with confidence. Write them off at your peril, though.
England have been distinctly average and have been accused of playing soulless rugby under Eddie Jones. He does, however, possess the wherewithal and players to be major disrupters in France next year.
The Wallabies too are capable of topping a side more favoured than them. Dave Rennie’s win record may be poor but he is an astute coach and under him the Wallabies will get better.
The build-up to 2023’s RWC has been and will continue to be different. Unlike previous four-year cycles ahead of the RWC, a global pandemic has wreaked havoc by limiting players’ game time and coaches’ ability to develop strategy.
The Springboks were particularly hard hit, missing the entire 2020 roster.
It has meant squad development has had to happen at a more hurried pace but that cramming exercise has come at a price — the results column.
Before this weekend’s clash, the Springboks have lost three of their first six Tests this year and some of their shortfalls are easily explained away by the quality of the personnel or lack of experience they sent into battle.
Bok coach unapologetic
Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber is almost unapologetic about his selection policy which to a large degree is slanted towards building depth.
“It is a difficult situation coaches find themselves in,” said former Springbok captain Jean de Villiers.
“They’ve lost almost two years of their RWC preparations. Here we say we want to win every Test and you prepare that way but in the back of your mind there is the RWC. With 10 or so Tests to go, you want to know who you want to take and who has not risen to the challenge.
“Consistency in selection usually gives better results over a period of time but of course coaches are now almost compelled to try new combinations. It does, however, create opportunities for others.”
It begs the question whether too much emphasis is being placed on the scrap for the Webb Ellis Cup.
“I think the RWC has almost become an excuse,” said De Villiers. “Test rugby is still helluva important to every player that goes out there every week. That’s the case here and elsewhere in the world.
“Sometimes the RWC has become an easy excuse when things don’t go your way. I have no doubt that Test rugby, in between RWCs, is still relevant. People watch the games, there is huge fan engagement and from a player’s perspective it is important.”
The Springboks have two remaining home and away Rugby Championship Tests against Argentina before they embark on their end-of-year tour.
There they will play Ireland, France, Italy and England, while a SA XV will play midweek matches against Bristol Bears and Munster in which the rule will be run over fringe players. Next year the Boks will play a Rugby Championship that will be reduced to three rounds as well as at least two other Tests in preparation to the RWC.