Analysis: Positive play, plenty of tries, fewer kicks – the Nations Championship is living up to its promise, writes Patrick McKendry.
Deciding exactly how good the All Blacks’ performance was against France in the inaugural Nations Championship Test may require further investigation beyond the highlights, and there were many for both teams, but the merits of the competition itself do not appear to require such deep investigation.
Those rugby supporters perhaps suffering from new competition fatigue in the wake of Super Rugby’s near constant changes and wondering what it was all about probably will today after a first round of matches which have been outstanding spectacles full of, to borrow Dave Rennie’s favourite word, “optimism”, along with a few of others, including “brutality” and “effort”.
The All Blacks’ 34-32 victory over France under the roof in Christchurch in what was Rennie’s first Test was followed swiftly by Ireland’s come-from-behind 33-31 thriller against the Wallabies in Sydney, a Test which was on a knife edge until the final whistle, which came after Ben Donaldson missed a difficult sideline penalty for the hosts.
Japan’s 27-10 victory over Italy in Tokyo was not ideal preparation for the Azzurri, who face the All Blacks in Wellington next Saturday, but it will be a huge boost for the Japanese, who are third on the Southern Hemisphere table. It was the first time the Brave Blossoms have beaten Italy since 2018.
The competition is split between two groups of six – Northern and Southern – and the top team in each group after the round robin (held in July and November) play a grand final at Twickenham in late November. The lower ranked teams also play off for a final placing.
Almost inevitably, South Africa, the world’s No.1 team, top the Southern group (the All Blacks are No.2) after accounting for England 45-21 in Johannesburg overnight. The visitors were shown two yellow cards within two minutes at the end of the second half, interventions which led to two converted tries for the Boks in the final seven minutes.
But England had their moments, too, especially at the end of the first half when they scored two converted tries in four minutes to go to the break 17-14 down.
Scotland beat Argentina 47-38 in Cordoba this morning, the hosts scoring two converted tries in the last three minutes to give the Scots something to think about.
Quite apart from the novelty of the top teams playing each other over the same weekend outside of a World Cup, the rugby has been, to a match, positive, entertaining and in many cases breathtaking.
More of the same this year and in 2028 – the competition is staged every two years – would be very welcome indeed.
Traditionalists may have been sceptical, but World Rugby’s promise that, in the Nations Championship, “every point, result and match matters, to every team” appears on the money.
It is clear that South Africa will be New Zealand’s greatest impediment to winning the inaugural championship and it will serve to focus the attention of All Blacks’ fans on the Boks’ upcoming fixture list, as well as the All Blacks’.
Ireland at Eden Park seven days after Italy will be a hugely important match for Rennie’s men, but so will Scotland in Edinburgh, England at Twickenham and Wales in Cardiff in November.
The Boks face a tough stretch against France in Paris and Ireland in Dublin at the same time.
All Blacks attack coach Mike Blair, a former Scotland international halfback, was this morning asked whether the world game this weekend had turned a corner in terms of teams playing with more positivity.
“There have obviously been lots of points scored,” Blair replied. “Teams are confident about holding the ball. With us, we try to find the strengths of our group… there are some pretty good athletes going around in world rugby at the moment.”
Blair said to the best of his knowledge there were no new injuries from last night’s hugely competitive encounter on a hard and fast pitch.
But it seems almost inevitable that the selectors will roll the dice a little for Italy and give men such as Anton Segner and Josh Moorby an opportunity at the Cake Tin. Beauden Barrett will likely get a run, too.
And, needless to say, the weather conditions will play a part.
“We were at the [Super Rugby] final with really poor conditions with the wind but the Hurricanes were still able to play a great brand of rugby,” Blair said.
“But you have to be really aware, it’s still Test match rugby. If the weather conditions don’t suit a particular type of game you play you have to adapt and I believe we have the smarts within the group to be able do that as well.”
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