Last weekend saw the beginning of the Autumn Internationals
and Warren Gatland’s first opportunity to look at all the home nations before
the impending Lion’s Tour in the summer.
The Autumn Internationals give players the opportunity to
convert their club form on to the world stage. In any other regular season, the
AI’s allow coaches to ponder their squads ahead of the 6 Nations. In the year
of a Lion’s Tour, the AI’s become that much more important, not just for the coaches,
but also the players.
The desire to stay fit but also perform well means that there
are bound to be some disappointed players after the AI’s and 6 Nations.
Hartley, Lawes and Ferris are prime examples. With less than 2 weeks to the
AI’s, all 3 players were sidelined with injury and look set to miss the
majority, if not all the AI’s.
This is the key reason why the home nation squads must ‘blood’
fringe players to ensure they are subjected to rugby at the highest level. Take
Alex Goode for example. Were it not for an injury to Mike Brown in the summer
tour of South Africa he may not have got a chance to prove his worth as an
England full back. Look ahead to the AI’s, an injury to Ben Foden and his first
start at Twickenham and Alex Goode is now being touted as a possible Lions Tour
candidate. On a personal note, unless Gatland wants to harness his ability
to slot in to the fly half role as executed on Saturday against Fiji, he will
chose Kearney, Halfpenney and Foden ahead of Goode (providing they are fit).
Serious injuries to Kearney and Foden mean they have to prove their worth, not
just in fitness levels, but also ousting the players who have superseded them
in the team. This could mean that Goode’s continued rugby education in the AI’s
could be crucial come June 2013.
The results from the weekend continue to emphasise the
strength possessed by the Southern Hemisphere. Victories by South Africa and
New Zealand showed why they are still the teams to beat in World Rugby. Add
Argentina into the mix after their impressive outing in their maiden Rugby
Championship and you see that southern hemisphere rugby is going from strength
to strength. From a Lion’s perspective, Australia’s heavy defeat to the French
continues to underline frailties in their set up and with Robbie Dean’s looking
over his shoulder, could we see some fundamental changes ahead of the tour in
2013?
Aside from Australia’s drubbing, there aren’t a huge amount of
positives to take from the first weekend of the AI’s. Wales looked very sluggish
and were put to the sword by a very efficient Argentine side. From a forward’s
point of view, Faletau was monumental across the field. 122m from 18 runs and a
heroic defensive effort meant his name was not tarnished. Warburton had a
relatively quiet game and without Lydiate Wales lost some of their back row
dominance. The front 5 had a relatively quiet game with no one really putting
their hand up for selection. In the backs, Priestland continues to disappoint
me and struggled to ignite a static backline littered with errors. Roberts carried
quite well until he got injured but handling errors across the Welsh backline
meant it was a poor day at the office.
It is staggering how much flack Brad Barritt gets for playing
a game very similar to that of Jamie Roberts. Roberts is being touted as the
next Lions inside centre for his direct running and strong defence yet Brad
Barritt does exactly the same job and is criticised for his inclusion in an
England jersey. For me, Roberts is passed his best and is very much injury
prone. I like the idea of a direct runner from 12 and a more creative spark at
13 and feel that Brad Barritt should definitely be in contention next June.
This brings me on to England. A dominant win against a weak
Fiji team is really nothing to write home about. They butchered chances across
the field and probably should have been more in command. You will always get
great passion and spirit from the Pacific Island side and Fiji optimised this
on Saturday. They scored the best try on the day, a fantastic individual effort
from Matawalu and showed at times could be very creative in open spaces. There were some positives to take on the day
and Lancaster’s desire to field younger players has been his best decision yet.
Allowing players such as Launchbury Vunipola and T. Youngs to experience
international rugby means their expected rise up the ranks will be a much
smoother transition than an unexpected call up due to injury later on. Good performances from Sharples and Goode as
well as T. Youngs proving his doubters wrong will give Lancaster a selection
headache and with Australia currently struggling England should be identifying
their next match as an opportunity to scalp one of the big southern hemisphere
nations.
Ireland were another team forced into changes. Withdrawals
from Lions’ hopefuls Ferris, O’Brien, O’Driscoll and O’Connell meant that
Ireland’s younger/fringe players were given an opportunity to shine. In the
first half Sexton stole the show and punished weak South African handling and
discipline by kicking Ireland to a 12-3 lead. Despite his defensive frailties
he has probably ensured his inclusion on the Lions Tour already. His ability to
attack the gain line and kicking % means he is the form fly half and will
almost certainly be on the plane in June. Cian Healy is another player who
continues to impress me. His scrummaging was strong and his work rate around
the ruck area was good leading to key turnovers throughout the game. Ireland’s
other players failed to ignite Dublin despite positive performances from Earls
and Zebo, who tirelessly tried to evade the South African defence. Their pack
was very much subdued in the second half leading to a 16-12 loss and Ireland
will be hoping they have their key players back in time for the Six Nations.
Scotland were the last team to play on Sunday and faced the
toughest test of all….New Zealand at Murrayfield. Despite resting some key
players, New Zealand still harnessed the skills of Carter and McCaw and set
about dispatching their opponents 51-22. Scotland, lead by the ever impressive
Kelly Brown scored 3 tries against the All Blacks which is the most anyone has
scored against them all season. Like Fiji, they possessed a staggering amount
of heart and passion and this was very much evident in their play throughout
the game. Their front row of Grant, Ford and Cross were all over the park and
were rewarded with a forwards try just before half time. The rest of the pack
worked tirelessly against a ruthless All Black outfit, with Gray and Brown
carrying strongly throughout. In the backs, Tim Visser very much stole the
show. His huge 6”5 frame alongside blistering pace meant he scored twice on his
Murrayfield debut. 4 tries in 4 games for a team who struggle to score tries is
a very good return. I strongly feel he
could be an outside bet for the Lions Tour and should be added to the mix of
players including Ashton, North, Bowe and Cuthbert.
It will be an intriguing next few weeks in the AI’s as players
looks to push their case forward for inclusion in the 6 Nations and 2013 Lions
Tour. If I was Warren Gatland and had to pick my best Lions XV based solely on
last weekend’s matches here is my team selection:
1. Cian Healy 2. Tom Youngs 3. Ryan Grant 4. Geoff
Parling 5 Richie Gray 6. Kelly Brown 7. David Denton 8. Toby Faletau 9. Danny Care 10. Jonny Sexton 11.
Tim Visser 12. Brad Barritt 13. Manu Tuilagi 14. Charlie Sharples 15. Alex Goode
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