Rugby World Cup warm-ups are just a glimpse of what is to come
Most of us, I would guess, view these Rugby World Cup warm-up matches (it begins in earnest in September) with a mixture of interest, excitement and apprehension. We are curious about selection, eager to see how our team is developing, and nervously praying that we avoid serious injuries.
Well, any prayer from the Welsh Valleys has already gone unanswered. The sight of Gareth Anscombe being helped off the field at Twickenham was bad enough. The news that he had torn an anterior cruciate ligament and is out of the Cup is utterly depressing. Wales weren’t the most creative team in the Six Nations. They scored only ten tries in winning their Grand Slam this Spring, the same as Italy who finished bottom. But most of what was lively and imaginative in their play stemmed from Anscombe, and indeed he had one dazzling break at Twickenham before he had to come off. Dan Biggar is a very good fly-half but a more limited one. It will be interesting to see whether Warren Gatland chooses to rely on him or opts for the more adventurous Rhys Patchell or the young and nimble-footed Jarrod Evans.
England looked good, sometimes very good, for much of the match. They began enterprisingly, even brilliantly, lost their way in the second half – not for the first time – but recovered to finish well. The forwards carried powerfully and the backs ran very good lines. Not by any means for the first time in the English backs looked better in attack with George Ford running the show. As ever Billy Vunipola was formidable going forward, less impressive when on the back foot. He got nowhere near Gareth Davies when the Welsh scrum-half broke from a set scrum, even though the scrum had swung round to bring Vunipola nearer to the line of Davies’s run. Davies then wrong-footed Elliot Daly and left him looking rather silly. Daly is a very dangerous player in attack but some way short of being secure in defence.
Still England should be happier with this showing than Wales, even though they will surely reflect that they won’t be given many tries as neatly gift-wrapped as their third one when Wales overthrew at a line-out on their own five-metre mark. Still good teams almost always feed on opponents’ mistakes. If Eddie Jones still has selection problems this is partly because he has so many good players to choose from. That said, he doesn’t seem to be a coach who values continuity. Owen Farrell is his World Cup captain, but will he play him at 10 or 12? George Ford is a more creative fly-half and every bit as good a kicker in attack, but I’ll be surprised if Jones doesn’t continue to prefer Farrell at 10. Still, having omitted Ben Te’o, one of his favourites for a couple of years, there must be some uncertainty regarding his best inside centre if Farrell is at fly-half.
England and Wales were probably both a bit rusty, unlike the Southern Hemisphere teams, well-advanced in their rugby championship. Moreover while in the North we are engaged in a series of what are really trial matches, the Southern countries have been playing genuine internationals. This makes comparison difficult.
The Bledisloe Cup game in Perth was tremendous. Australia seem to have emerged from the doldrums. Beating the All Blacks is of course a tremendous achievement for anyone at any time, but the surprise was the dominance Australia achieved up front. They had, I think, about 65 per cent of possession, and most of the time they used it very well. Their scrum-half Nick White ran the show and the backs ran beautiful lines, confusing the New Zealand defence. It was very pleasing – to me anyway – to see James O’Connor back in international rugby, and playing delightfully. Through silly indiscretions he has come close to ruining a career which started with such brilliant promise. It will be good if he at last fulfils it and does himself justice. Last week his vision and ball-playing skills added a touch of imagination to the Wallabies’ powerful back division.
Of course when the All Blacks had the ball they looked as good as ever, and, not only scored tries but looked capable of doing so almost every time they were in possession. Nevertheless, over the last year they have shed some of their aura of invincibility and a couple of weeks ago only managed a draw at home against South Africa. It’s as certain as anything can be that they will have improved by the time the World Cup starts and they will still start as favourites, but no longer overwhelmingly so.
Meanwhile South Africa look more and more impressive. They have a mighty pack and all the traditional Springbok qualities, while their coach Rassie Erasmus, benefitting perhaps from his time in charge of Munster, has added something of a northern hemisphere attacking style to their play. They have very good halves, power in midfield and lots of pace out wide. Their pool match with New Zealand should be one of the treats of the first stage of the Cup.
Meanwhile Scotland get their warm-ups under way against France in Nice. The French coach, Jacques Brunel, sprang a surprise by naming his 31-man RWC squad unusually early. Does this mean that there will be no eccentric French selections this time? They had a strange Six Nations. They should have beaten Wales, were desperately bad at Twickenham, then rather good against Scotland in Paris. They have some very good young players and a fair number of experienced ones who have, however, been more accustomed to losing than winning.
Predictable is not a word that has been often applied to Gregor Townsend, either in his days as a player or now as a coach, but his selection for this match is a mixture, giving little, indeed no, indications as to what will be his first choice team. An anxious eye will be cast on Duncan Taylor, playing his first international for two years. He has had a wretched time with injuries, one consequence of which is that, highly rated before he was jinxed, his reputation has soared in his absence. He is being fielded at inside centre in Nice with Huw Jones outside him. Jones, having had a brilliant start to his international career, scoring lots of tries, including two against England in 2018, rather lost form last season, not only form but his place in the Glasgow side. Still, if Taylor comes through unscathed, the prospect of seeing a mid-field of Finn Russell, Taylor and Jones is enticing. Northampton’s centre, Rory Hutchinson, is on the bench and will surely win his first cap and so deprive England of any chance of getting their hands on this dual-qualified young man.
One learned little about Ireland from their warm-up against Italy, but the injury to Joey Carberry, Jonny Sexton’s deputy and designated successor, may have even the unflappable Joe Schmidt a bit worried. Word is that Carberry should be fit for the World Cup. It would certainly be a shame if this talented and engaging player was to miss it. Be that as it may, no one can doubt that the possibility of injuries will dominate conversations over the next month. Players can be injured in training too. Wales have already been unfortunate to have lost Toby Falatau to a training-field injury. You can’t prepare for a World Cup by wrapping your players in cotton-wool.