Weekend Round-Up: England Play With 14 Men Just To Make It Interesting
Catch up on the best of the weekend’s games on Rugby Pass as England look to extend their winning streak to 12 against Argentina and Ireland look to add the Wallabies to their list of Southern Hemisphere scalps.
Autumn International: England vs Argentina
This game was shaped by something that happened after only four minutes. Elliot Daly became the first England player to be sent off in 11 years when he had what seemed to be a series of mini-strokes and decided it would be a good idea to tackle Leonardo Senatore while he was claiming the ball about a metre-and-a-half off the ground. His send-off paved the way for a different kind of England performance than the one Eddie Jones would have envisioned. A tenacious defensive effort and was needed to keep the game competitive, with England only just clinging to the lead going into the final 20 minutes.
Autumn International: Australia vs Ireland
Australia came into this game hoping to keep their Grand Slam hopes alive. Ireland wanted to claim another Southern Hemisphere superpower scalp for 2016 after beating the Springboks in June and the All Blacks in Chicago three weeks ago. It was the Irish who started out better, forcing the Wallabies into some desperate defence inside their own 22, and prompting a stressed-out Dean Mumm to dump 134kg Tadhg Furlong on his head. But the Wallabies fought back through the frankly frightening running of Sefa Naivalu, and the unerringly accurate kicking of Bernard Foley. The game was within one with 10 minutes left, setting the stage for one of the best finishing stanzas of the Autumn season.
Autumn International: France vs New Zealand
OK, so the All Blacks away kit didn’t look thaaat bad. In fact it almost looked kind of good on Julian Savea as he leapt to pluck Beauden Barrett’s cross-field kick out of the air on the touchline before setting Israel Dagg up for the first try of the game after seven minutes. As we’ve seen all autumn, though, an early All Blacks try doesn’t signal the opening of the floodgates any more; the rest of the half was tough and physical as France dominated possession but couldn’t cross the tryline. Instead they relied on frequent penalty kicks to keep in touch and set up a tense final 20 minutes.
Harlequins vs Bath
FYI: the Aviva Premiership is still going. Harlequins and Bath played a nail-biting match on Sunday. ‘Quins got out to an early lead only to be pegged back and eventually overtaken by the 3rd-placed side. The game turned on the play of Tim Swiel, who arrived on the field in the 20th minute as a blood replacement and ended up staying for the rest of the match, paving the way for some heroics in the last six minutes.
Latest Comments
A few comments. Firstly, I am a Bok fan and it's been a golden period for us. I hope my fellow Bok fans appreciate this time and know that it cannot last forever, so soak it all in!
The other thing to mention (and this is targeted at Welsh, English and even Aussie supporters who might be feeling somewhat dejected) is that it's easy to forget that just before Rassie Erasmus took over in 2018, the Boks were ranked 7th in the world and I had given up hope we'd ever be world beaters again.
Sport is a fickle thing and Rassie and his team have managed to get right whatever little things it takes to make a mediocre team great. I initially worried his methods might be short-lived (how many times can you raise a person's commitment by talking about his family and his love of his country as a motivator), but he seems to have found a way. After winning in 2019 on what was a very simple game plan, he has taken things up ever year - amazing work which has to be applauded! (Dankie Rassie! Ons wardeer wat jy vir die ondersteuners en die land doen!) (Google translate if you don't understand Afrikaans! 😁)
I don't think people outside South Africa fully comprehend the enormity of the impact seeing black and white, English, Afrikaans and Xhosa and all the other hues playing together does for the country's sense of unity. It's pure joy and happiness.
This autumn tour has been a bit frustrating in that the Boks have won, but never all that convincingly. On the one hand, I'd like to have seen more decisive victories, BUT what Rassie has done is expose a huge number of players to test rugby, whilst also diversifying the way the Boks play (Tony Brown's influence).
This change of both style and personnel has resulted in a lack of cohesion at times and we've lost some of the control, whereas had we been playing our more traditional style, that wouldn't happen. This is partially attributable to the fact that you cannot play Tony Brown's expansive game whilst also having 3 players available at every contact point to clear the defence off the ball. I have enjoyed seeing the Boks play a more exciting, less attritional game, which is a boring, albeit effective spectacle. So, I am happy to be patient, because the end justifies the means (and I trust Rassie!). Hopefully all these players we are blooding will give us incredible options for substitutions come next year's Rugby Championship and of course, the big prize in 2027.
Last point! The game of rugby has never been as exciting as it is now. Any of Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, France, Argentina, Scotland, England & Australia can beat one another. South Africa may be ranked #1, but I wouldn't bet my house in them beating France or New Zealand, and we saw Argentina beating both South Africa and New Zealand this year! That's wonderful for the game and makes the victories we do get all the sweeter. Each win is 100% earned. Long may it last!
Sorry for the long post! 🏉🌍
Go to commentsWouldn’t mind seeing that grounding in slow mo there. Too much to ask?
Go to comments