Summer Internationals 2025, Week 2

Another week, another crazy day of rugby.

Fiji v Scotland

This was a game of contrasting styles, luck and one where Scotland will be thankful that things didn’t click for Fiji much more consistently or this could have been a cricket score.

It started well for Scotland, they got the ball, applied phase pressure and scored a nice try after about five minutes. In the rest of the first half there might have been 30s when the ball was anywhere near the Fijian 22. However, offloaded inaccurately, dropped the ball uncharacteristically and generally blew chances galore until the 35th minute when they scored a try from a driving maul (yes, Fiji pushed Scotland over) and then a lovely wide move to score in the corner as they suddenly regained confidence.

Scotland were missing a cluster of stars on Lions duty, but still had a number of familiar names. From about the half hour mark they all looked gassed. Suva having its effect on visitors again. Wales managed the conditions in Japan better though.

The second half went much like the first. Scotland started well, scoring quickly and applying pressure again straight away - but Fiji disrupted a driving maul and then earned a penalty to relieve the pressure. Fiji continued to drop the ball like they just didn’t care, but Scotland were bleeding penalties from about ten minutes into the half, mostly due to fatigue it seemed, but when they kept hold of it they were irresistible and scored some lovely tries.

I started this saying Scotland will be thankful it wasn’t a cricket score. Honestly, I lost count of the chances Fiji blew. But double digits. Say that they should have scored ten more, and converted half of them, because they were mostly pretty wide. That’s 60 points they left behind…

Fiji were good enough today. Scotland will have to lick their wounds quickly, they’re playing Samoa on Friday.

Japan v Wales

I must admit I watched this already knowing the result, which was good for my equanimity.

Superficially this game looked a lot like last week's game for the first 65 minutes. Wales eased out to a comfortable lead, albeit with mistakes along the way, but as the replacements came on, Japan came back into the game. Some of that was them playing better, some was Wales making mistakes as fatigue set in or the lack of depth started to show.

However, unlike last week, I guess an extra week of training in Japan has helped adjust to the conditions, enough players were fit enough to survive the improvement that the substitutes brought to Japan and keep playing. It wasn’t pretty. Both sides looked knackered and down in confidence, but when it mattered Wales kept their heads, put the ball through the hands safely until there was a player with no one in front of him, and rumbled over for a try that stretched it out to a nine-point lead. With Hymns and Arias echoing, albeit faintly, around the stadium, Wales didn’t exactly show composure, but they showed more than Japan. After 18 straight loses, a win at long last.

New Zealand v France

Last week's performance by the French was heroic, but there was always a lingering question of just how rusty were the All Blacks in their first game of the year? Galthié didn’t make any comparison easy, changing just about the whole team.

Judging by eye, the All Blacks were much sharper this week. Their defence was faster and more aggressive, but also more accurate. Throughout the first half they were completely in control of the breakdown and all over the French lineout like a rash and were totally dominant at mauls after lineouts. Men v boys seems like a good cliché to pull out here, it was that one-sided. However, the French scrum more than held its own, and when the French backs got ball in a good position they used it well and looked dangerous.

After the break, the French improved, bolstered a bit by the first replacements, but also responding to the half time talks.

The All Blacks started at a gallop, and finished at a canter. 43-17, but they didn’t score in the last 20 minutes. The French kept trying and did score late.

This is an odd game where both coaches will be reasonably happy. The All Blacks knocked the rust off and looked sharp. Little things that we haven’t seen for a few years, like everyone raising their intensity and scoring a try whilst a man down, are back. There are things for them to work on still, but this was a very good 50 minutes and a good 20 minutes on top of that. But, with a game to go, Galthié has given a chunk of his young stars a bit more experience and he’s added enough extra names to his list of potential squad players to have extra depth in many positions, including those that are his biggest immediate priorities. He’s not looking for a new team, he will, as he did with Attisogbe and Jegou successfully after last year, a few others less successfully, introduce them in ones or twos, surrounded by more senior players, and see how they perform. And the depth of the squad will be built, the stars of the 2031 World Cup are emerging.

AUNZ v BIL

This was the last match before the first test against Australia. The pundits were in full oracle mode, trying to divine what each little action meant.

What we actually saw was a team that, three weeks ago, was a disjointed group of stars, is now a largely coordinated team. They were playing a team that, by and large aren’t quite there for the Wallabies or the All Blacks. A few of them might have been left out of these particular national series to let the coaches see other players perform, Frizzel and Havili in particular, possibly LSL, but generally they were not stars. They also had very little time to gel. And boy did it show. 48-0 and the AUNZ team were lucky it was that close.

I think some of the choices Farrell has are pretty simple. Russell is easy. I don’t think there’s much between JGP and White, but JGP will start. With Cowan-Dickie's head injury, Sheehan and Kellerher, in that order are confirmed as the hookers. Clearly Itoje starts. I have my favourites for the other positions, but who Farrell will pick, I don’t know.

South Africa v Italy

This seems like an odd thing to write about a team that won 45-0 despite having their number 8 shown a straight red for a head-butt half way through the first half, but South Africa have problems. They definitely have a solid core of excellent players remaining, but they’re dwindling in numbers thanks to age and injuries. The wider squad are not up to scratch.

For example, Rassie has come up with a trick kickoff play. It was poorly executed and should have been a penalty to Italy for deliberate offside, but the ref ignored that and gave a scrum. Then the SA front row pushed too soon, free kick Italy. Next scrum, right in front of the Italian posts, same thing, free kick upgraded to a penalty, Italy escape.

The Bokke also attemtped another trick play, this time successfully, where they basically set up a lifting pod from a lineout but in open play. It looks odd and wrong to me, but I don’t know it’s actually against the laws.

Italy, playing without 10 of their regular starting 15, as they were last week, couldn’t dig deep enough to produce another performance. The Bokke, for all their frailties, had more stars in more key places, and whilst Rassie wasn’t impressed by the red card, I think they got the rough edge of Brace's more unusual decisions.

This looks like a good win, but there’s a lot more for Rassie to think about than Quesada after it. Yes, the Azurri lost, but they kept playing and kept their heads in the game. The Bokke were never really in scoreboard trouble, obviously, but they kept finding ways to do the stupid things.

Argentina v England

How you feel about the eventual outcome of this match probably depends on how you feel about England. You might describe it as a heroic, last minute victory if you’re a fan, or snatching an undeserved win from a much more honest draw. Because, honestly, having watched it, there was nothing between the teams on the day.

I can’t, hand on heart, say that this was really a good game to watch. But as I’m writing this, it’s hard to put my finger on why. There was plenty of effort but it was a match that didn’t quite spring into life. Perhaps, and you’ll understand from the previous few sentences why I don’t want to go back and check, there were two different things going on. Argentina were a bit disorganised as they reintroduced their French-based stars. They’ll be better come TRC for the run out but, although the quality rose, that old issue with cohesion stopped them ever firing consistently. On the other side, England are playing with a weakened team and the improved Pumas defenders largely stifled their attacks.

So on one side you had a misfiring attack and on the other an attack that couldn’t get any traction. The final try didn’t look like Los Pumas were tired and made a mistake, it was a bit of a fluke. But there you go.