Autumn Internationals 2022, Week 3

19/11

• Wales v Georgia

This match really lives up to a couple of sporting cliches. One is that you must take your chances, which Georgia did better than Wales. The other is that this really was a game of two halves.

In the first half, Wales really created three, possibly four, depending on how you count them try scoring opportunities and scored two tries, plus one chalked off for a forward pass. (The fourth possibility was a chance that was created, Georgia turned the ball over and cleared, but not far, then Wales scored basically straight away - to my mind that was long continuous period of pressure and so one long chance.) They weren’t perfect but they were good and Georgia were doing a lot right for a few phases on both sides of the ball but Wales could extend it past that and Les Lolos lost their shape more and more. That was fine, and Wales should have kicked on after the break.

What actually happened was that Wales created exactly one scoring opportunity and were again (absolutely rightly) denied a try, this time because of a knock on. Georgia dragged the Welsh down into shapeless, structureless rugby and no one in a red (well a black actually) shirt was able to reach out and change the game. They clearly missed AWJ but why is Priestland not shouting at people to get into position? The team should all understand the plan and their role in it, yes, but in every game of rugby I’ve seen, the plan goes awry sometimes. That’s why you have leaders who stand up and metaphorically smack heads so that the team go back into the plan and regain their shape. That never happened for Wales and you have to ask why, who are the leaders and why couldn’t they make their voices heard?

Congratulations Georgia.

Pivac, you’re really in trouble. Wales really lack cohesion and leaders to implement your plan. Your plan might not be good enough to win the big matches but in matches like this you need to have the players actually implement it…

• Italy v South Africa

Highlights Only

This match was a comfortable win in the end for South Africa but Italy started brightly, we unlucky not to be in the lead at half time, and, in the middle of an avalanche of points, kept their heads well enough to score when the opportunity presented itself.

It’s a shame it was this heavy a defeat, although I didn’t see it all I can’t help thinking we had a double hangover from last week, or for SA the last two weeks here. Italy beat Australia for the first time and, rightly, celebrated. Well they played well in parts that focus for the full 80 wasn’t there. On the other side, the Bokke have lost two, they found a slightly off-focus Italy and bullied them.

• Scotland v Argentina

In the 20th minute Kremer saw Red for a bit of what you have to say is atypical for him thuggery. With a different ref he might have seen Yellow, we’ve seen that for “it’s only the biceps” before, and recently, but I don’t think anyone can really complain about this being red. but At one point in the second half, Los Pumas were down to 12 for about 9 minutes. A bit later on they lost another player for a brawl, as did Scotland. Until the last 10 minutes or so it was stunningly close - 31-22 to Scotland - but three tries to Scotland in the last 11 minutes and one to Argentina with the clock well into the red really blew the score out.

The lack of a back row forward, and the questionable decision to leave the pack a player short for 60 minutes, certainly created space for Russell who took advantage but the defensive frailties that saw 12 man Argentina score against them will be a positive for Cheika and a serious work-on for Townsend and Co.

This might seem short but, really, it was almost one way after the card, with stout defence. It didn’t make for an interesting match unless you were a partisan viewer and I’m not.

• England v New Zealand

If, like me, you’re unfortunate enough to be subjected to English media, you’ll have heard Jones wittering about the importance of a good start. I don’t think being 14-0 down after 10 minutes was quite what he had in mind! Where, last week, Scotland roared back into the game, at England's first chance Vunipola gave up a penalty and then another straight away. It wasn’t until the 22nd minute that England finally scored, and that was only a penalty, and the All Blacks had had another try rightly disallowed by then.

If Ioane could keep hold of the ball the All Blacks, could easily have scored two more tries in the first half. The fact he also gave up the penalty that chalked off his try and another penalty… he’s a controversial pick in the 13 jersey in New Zealand and his first half performance won’t have helped that. However, that number of chances that Ioane blew on his own are indicative of the flow of the game.

I’m not a great subscriber to the “ten minute structure” of rugby. This is an idea that matches break down into roughly ten minute long chunks where one side has the momentum. Then in the next ten minutes you see another burst with one side having the momentum - this can be the same side but in a fairly even game you often see it swap. But the first half kind of felt like it. NZ clinical. NZ sloppy. England pressed and scored three. NZ sloppy, finally scoring three.

Like the Welsh game, this was a game of two halves. In the second half, England applied more consistent pressure but the last pass was slow, or the All Blacks created a turnover, or played disciplined defence until England gave up a penalty for going off their feet or similar. New Zealand then scored on the counter-attack. Occasionally that counter-attack took the form of piggybacking penalties and once that led to three points. If you were to apply the ten minute structure, you would say that the AB still dominated but they held the momentum more through defensive pressure and counter-attacking. England might have had the ball, but they never looked like scoring, and only added another three points in this period. And then in the last ten minutes, oh that ten minute structure, England suddenly started converting pressure into points. One dubious try, one clear try and the match ends in a draw.

England will be happy to have escaped with the draw, New Zealand will feel they had victory stolen.

• Ireland v Australia

This was an incredibly frustrating game to watch.

I lost count of the number of times we had high contact in the clear out, high tackles and neck rolls. It started with Australian ill-discipline but rapidly spread to the Irish. Because it was variations around the theme and both sides, while you could argue the ref could have warned them earlier and carded them earlier, it didn’t feel like he was really tardy, and the card just slowed them down a bit. On top of that, the breakdowns were a complete mess, from both sides. Neck rolls help that of course, but they didn’t put bodies in properly and counter-rucking became incredibly strong.

As if that wasn’t enough Ireland, in particular, dropped ball that cost them chances. It seems unfair to add that Hansen also just touched the whitewash before passing so a try was called back - it wasn’t bad play, it was great defence but it added to the sense of general ineptitude, however unjustly.

Finally Ireland scored a try. Then, almost from nowhere, so did Australia. With two minutes to go Ireland pulled ahead and even then it wasn’t over. Australia pressed deep, Ireland got a lineout as time ran out, just outside their 22. Catch and kick it out… but they lost the lineout! Then, equally typically, Australia coughed the ball up in a ruck, and Ireland scrambled to a win. This was ugly and the number 1 side in the world looked… awful. Some people are saying “oh, Sexton going missing just before the match made Ireland look so bad” but It didn’t look like the kind of thing Sexton would have changed, it was mostly up front with tackling in tight and sloppy breakdown work.

If Farrell was livid last week, he should be incandescent this week.

20/11

• France v Japan

On paper, particularly given Japan's travails in Twickenham last week, this looked like a formality. But then you look at the pouring rain in which it was played, at least in the first half, and you think perhaps a really high score was not on the cards.

Both sides seemed willing to ignore the weather and there were some excellent moves, moreso but not solely from France. However, rain and a wet rugby ball always add a level of chaos, and this match was no exception. There are times that makes for a bad game but this time, with them both prepared to play, it might not have impressed the coaches but it made it loads of fun to watch.

I appreciate that Galthie wants to play Ntmack and get him game time as he recovers from his injury. But against Australia when it really mattered and again today, Jalibert looked so good, and made the team look better as well.

Congratulations to France on not only a reasonably comfortable win, a good win given the weather, but not losing a game throughout the year. They need to break the men's record streak to lift the RWC and a grand slam next year, but they look good for it still.

Happy Coaches

Maisashvilli, of Georgia, has to be right up there. First ever win over Wales. It might not have been the prettiest game ever, but they won.

Galthie has to be a close second. France won all their games this year, and within 13 months have beaten all the other top 10 sides in the world. Both of those are some achievement. He’s got questions to think about - Ntmack looked decent at 10, Jalibert looked on fire - but he’s also answered some questions about the depth of his squad. The build up to the RWC will have to be different to the build up to the Autumn Internationals, but with 10 months to go, France have to look like favourites. That can change with injuries and the like, but they do look good, and they have time and space to improve.

I think Nienaber has to be next. The Bokke looked vulnerable, they even looked vulnerable at half time in Italy, but then they kicked on and looked dominant. It’s not great, and a loss against England will leave this tour looking like a disaster, but for now, he’s happy.

Then I think we have a mess of coaches a bit too close to call. In this group we have Townsend, Jones, Foster, Crowley and even Cheika. Scotland ran the score up at the end, but were held close for a long time by Los Pumas, and conceded a try while their opponents were down to 12 men. Happy for the win, but there are a lot of issues still. Jones will be happy his side rescued that draw from nowhere, but it relied on Smith abandoning his game plan, Barrett seeing yellow, and still a big chunk of luck - England were nowhere near for 70 minutes and if Ioane had had a bit more discipline, or the ref had called “stop 13” instead of just blowing the whistle and disallowing the try, England lose. Likewise Foster will be mostly happy with 70 minutes of that game, but (hopefully) not impressed with the lack of discipline from his golden boy, nor the last 10 minutes. Crowley won’t be happy with the second half from the Azzurri, but overall Italy have had a good Autumn campaign and have a lot to build on. Getting out of their pool (they have New Zealand and France) might be challenging but they could easily finish somewhere up the table in the 6N this year. Cheika will rue the RC but his side have had a decent Autumn series and there’s a lot to build on.

Then we have another mess of coaches. Farrell, Pivac and Rennie. Farrell I guess, with time, will be the happiest of these three. His side have actually won all their matches, they’ve played poorly, very poorly at times, but won. You have to wonder if they can get beyond thee QF or even out of their pool if Sexton is injured… another time when Ireland have peaked too soon? Wales have had an up and down Autumn Series. A win next week will save Pivac’s job. It’s that simple. Australia have had a disaster, and when they face Wales, it’s possible that both sides need a win to save their coach’s job.