Summer Internationals 2025, Week 1

I am going to briefly touch on the two friendlies that happened before this weekend as well, then dive into the main matches of the weekend. What I won’t. Be reviewing is the Lions matches against the Australian SR sides. They’re build up matches as Farrell and co look for combinations and try to work out how their charges are gelling, against SR teams weakened by having their stars taken out to the Wallabies and then some released back to them. It’s an important part of the build up, but shouldn’t be a challenge. Nor will I be reviewing the Ireland games, I can’t get to see them.

BIL v Argentina

This was a friendly, officially, and marked the centennial of the first match between the two teams. Argentina came to visit, weakened by having a batch of players still playing in France, but still with the core of the team together. The Lions were playing their first match and also playing a side weakened by choosing not to play anyone who had been involved for Leinster, Leicester or Northampton in the URC and Premiership finals the week before.

Cohesion was the name of the game. Los Pumas might have been rusty at first, but settled into a rhythm. The Lions, understandably, looked like they didn’t know who the player on either side of them was. It showed how important those little things can be against top flight opposition. Offloads that we know should work were to fingertips or hips instead of the breadbasket, and dropped. Passes likewise. Cross-field kicks, oddly adrift because the 10 and the wing didn’t understand each other.

Argentina didn’t care and bolstered their claim to be included as a regular part of the tour.

Japan v Māori All-Blacks

Japan got in a warm-up game before their tests against Wales by losing to the MABs. For the first 20 minutes or so everything I said about the Lions above could be said about both sides really. In the case of the MABs it’s probably fair, like the Lions, they’re more of a scratch team, many young players, for the Japanese a mixture of rust and lack of confidence after a long losing streak seems most likely.

After that first period, the MABs settled down and Japan didn’t really. It wasn’t completely one way traffic, but the MABs were always in control and once that started the result was never in doubt.

Reihana, the young 10 from the champion Crusaders played 10 against Japan and Scotland. The has been criticism in NZ of Robinson not selecting younger blood at 10 for the AB when he’s said (and some of his selections seem to support) that he’s exploring more options. Giving Reihana these two games to build experience seems like a good move to me. He’s had experience of playing two test sides, AB standards of coaching and play, and he actually ran the games throughout instead of 10-15 minutes at the end, if he’s lucky. Will he get a call up in TRC? I don’t know, but he looks like the real deal.

Scotland v MABs

Sadly I didn’t see all of this match. I wasn’t getting up at 0430 to watch it, and my recording cut off with about 12 minutes to go. I saw the end of the game on highlights.

This wasn’t quite a game of two halves, although that old cliché isn’t a terrible description. Scotland looked solid in the first half, never completely in control, but on top. They made the most of their opportunities and restricted the MABs.

In the second half, the script was flipped and Scotland clung on against a spirited MAB fight back. I don’t know what the MAB coach said at half time, but it certainly worked! Scotland will point, fairly, to their absentees, but I can’t help feeling if this was the MABs third match together it might have been a different story.

Japan v Wales

This match was a game of two parts. For the first hour, Wales looked good. Not perfect, but good. They had occasional issues at the scrum and lineout but, despite losing the odd battle were winning those wars comfortably. Around the park, they were pretty much winning everything else. With 20 to go it was 19-7 to Wales and just a case of closing the match out.

Then, not quite simultaneously, the substitutes came on for both sides. The quality of Japanese play rose appreciably while the Welsh replacements were a step down. The Japanese scored and scored and scored and stole a victory from the jaws of defeat.

There was a lot to admire about the Welsh performance in the first hour but that last 20 minutes was poor. Can it be improved by next week?

New Zealand v France

If you believe the Kiwi media, the touring French team, a development team shorn of most of their regular big names, was an insult.

A four point defeat and an enthralling, brilliant game has put that discussion to bed.

French rugby is strong because they have brilliant players at the top, yes, but those just behind them are damn good and keeping the pressure up. The Top14 produces players who compete with intensity every week and they made the step up to playing at this level comfortably. There was just enough experience in enough places, the likes of Woki and Fickou, to steady the youngsters when they needed it, and a leavening of players like le Garrec and Attisogbe who have a bit of experience too. But many, like their starting 10, no caps for France, not even at u20 level, and honestly you wouldn’t have known.

The ABs looked rusty, yes, but you would expect both teams to be better next week. The French are here to play and you better not forget that!

South Africa v Italy

This was a match in three chunks really. In the first quarter it was close and nervy. If SA hadn’t played the BaaBaas last week, you’d put it down to rust but I think Italy were just up for it and the Bokke had to absorb the pressure. Sadly they managed without conceding a try.

In the second quarter, SA unleashed, scoring four tries and Italy looked down and dusted.

Then, come the second half, Italy scored four tries to the SA two. They also had two chalked off - I am not complaining about either, a bit of brilliant defence put a leg in touch moments before the ball was grounded, a clear obstruction with no question about whether it affected play or not; two good decisions - but oh what might have been.

Rassie used a variation on the bomb squad, the whole tight five, and whilst the Sa commentators celebrated their two tries they seemed blind to the fact that the lineout fell apart and suddenly the Bokke leaked four tries… not all is well in the state of Erasmus?

England v Argentina

Another game of two halves, for both teams. In the first half, Argentina were all over England like a rash but, somehow, the score at halftime had England 8-0 ahead. It was as dour a match as that suggests. An England fan will tell you it was brilliant defence but at least some of it was just bad play by Argentina too.

In the second half, England started to score, in fairness so did Argentina a bit, and that made the match more fun to watch, but it never really sprang to life in any way that drew me in, largely because the error count, from both teams but especially Argentina, remained high.

England will be relieved to have won, with half a team away with the Lions, Argentina will improve with the return of their Top14 finalists.

Australia v Fiji

This was a match that Schmidt will have been very relieved to have won, in the end. Both sides were rusty at first, that’s ok. That’s part of why this match was arranged. As the rust wore off the Wallabies were largely winning the set pieces and… nothing else. The Fijians were winning the breakdowns, the tackles and definitely winning the mental battles.

Australia have had a poor kick chase for years, against Fiji kicking the ball away aimlessly is… painful. And so it proved. There’s clearly a masochistic streak in Lolesio, because he kept doing it, at least until he decided to tackle someone very big by head butting his hip and being stretchered off.

The replay technicians got in on the general level of Australian incompetence. There was a pass for a try that was borderline forward. The TMO referred it for a check. First they didn’t play anything into the stadium for several attempts. Then, despite the TMO asking about three times and the referee twice for the reverse angle they kept playing the same, useless, replay, over and over for what felt like an eternity but was probably five minutes. One viewing of the right angle and M. Brousset made his decision… WTF replay booth?

Fiji lost to a bit of bad luck and a bit of being small. Australia has bigger city populations than the whole of Fiji. They needed a couple of replacements they just didn’t have.

But, unless the Wallabies improve markedly, they’re in real trouble against most of the Lions teams we’ve seen.