Maori All Blacks v Ireland

Ireland’s Summer Tour to New Zealand got underway on Wednesday morning (Irish time) with their first of 2 matches against the Maori All Blacks. Following a tribute for the late Maori All Blacks wing Sean Wainui and a thrilling haka, it was time for the action to get underway in Hamilton.

The Maori All Blacks are never to be sniffed at, and with this squad including capped All Blacks Brad Weber, Josh Ioane, TJ Perenara, Cullen Grace, Tyrel Lomax and former Wallaby Jermaine Ainsley, the Irish knew they would be in for a real test. But it was the men in green who took an early lead as Cian Healy—on early following a head injury to Jeremy Loughman—won a scrum penalty against Tyrel Lomax, which Ciarán Frawley converted. The Maoris were soon level through the boot of Josh Ioane and looking a threat each time they got ball in hand, and when a monster 50/22 from Zarn Sullivan gave them possession jut 6m out from the Irish try line, they worked the phases for the Blues fullback to go over for the opening try. The Irish almost had an immediate reply as Connor Garden-Bachop was beaten by a bouncing ball in the corner, but the ball bounced just a little too high for Jordan Larmour to gather. However the Irish were soon ahead as Gavin Coombes drew 2 tacklers off a lineout before putting Bundee Aki through with a short pass right before contact, allowing the captain to go under the posts to give Frawley an easy conversion. A Ioane penalty soon put the home team back ahead, before a strong carry from Zarn Sullivan put the Irish defence on the back foot, allowing Ioane to break away and feed Shaun Stevenson for the try in the corner, and with Ioane kicking the touchline conversion, the Irish suddenly found themselves 8 points behind after half an hour. The Irish indiscipline was costing them and after they gave away a free kick just outside their 22 for closing the gap at the lineout, it took just a few phases of hard carrying before Brad Weber sniped through a gap to score the Maori All Blacks’ third. And as the half came to an end, they broke with numbers, for Cullen Grace to score on his Maori All Black debut, Ioane kicking for a 32-10 halftime lead.

The Irish needed a strong start to the half, but after Cian Healy was adjudged to have been held up over the line, they bungled the penalty advantage they had by knocking on the tapped restart, and when Ioane failed to clear the 22 with his clearance kick, the Irish came again but found themselves held up again, this time through debutant Cian Prendergast. The Irish were straight back on the attack after a strong carry off the drop-out from Combes, but as they reached the line, Nick Timoney proved that third time isn’t always lucky as he was also held up over the line. Things soon got even worse for Ireland as promising young centre James Hume was helped off injured and the Maori All Blacks, now being led by debutant TJ Perenara, got their first chance of any possession in the half and quickly set about taking the momentum away from the men in green. With 14 minutes remaining, the Irish made it back down to the other end of the pitch but again found themselves held up (Coombes this time) but they had a penalty advantage and this time didn’t waste it, taking the tap and eventually driving Coombes over for a try that his efforts in the game deserved, Frawley adding the extras. Happiness soon turned to worry though as Cian Healy had to leave the pitch on a buggy after what looked to be an awful knee injury that will likely end his tour, and though both teams looked to finish on a high, the score remained 32-17 to the final whistle.

rugby maori all blacks crest no background

Heading for trouble

Just over a week ago, World Rugby announced that starting from the beginning of June, return to play protocols following concussion symptoms would be increased from 7 days to 12 days, in an effort to help improve the safety of the game. Unfortunately, any hard work being done to improve safety was undone in one 12-minute span at the start of this game.

Was surprised that Jeremy Loughman came back onto the pitch after this.

Presumed that there would be no need for any off-pitch HIA given what we saw here. pic.twitter.com/TBLWbscsmi
— Murray Kinsella (@Murray_Kinsella) June 29, 2022

With just 1 minute on the clock, Irish loosehead Jeremy Loughman carried low into contact and came out worse for wear. Television footage clearly showed him struggle to get back to his feet, and as he went off for a HIA, he was clearly being steadied by a medic. Now already there we have the first issue, as a player who shows severe concussion symptoms (such as balance issues) should just be off for the remainder of the game, not going off for a HIA. And to make things worse, Loughman somehow supposedly passed his HIA as he was back on the pitch within 12 minutes, with the Kiwi commentators (who frequently show a flagrant disregard for player wellbeing and safety in their commentary) saying how wonderful it was to see him back on the pitch. Well clearly he wasn’t in the best of states, as he was permanently removed at halftime.

This was almost a carbon copy of the Tomas Francis incident that was widely condemned during the Six Nations. The irish medics and any neutral medics who were involved in letting Loughman back on the pitch should be instantly out of a job and hoping that Loughman never has any health issues in the future, or else there may be a hefty lawsuit rightfully coming their way.

Work smarter not harder

The Irish were their own worst enemies in this match, especially the first half, as they just couldn’t stop giving away penalties. The vast majority of these were coming either at the breakdown or for offsides.

Granted the Maori All Blacks were having success when they could spread the ball wide—with Shaun Stevenson especially having the beating of Keith Earls all day—so it made sense for the Irish to want to blitz up and slow down the ball as much as they could at the breakdown, but they were too keen to do this, and this led to them continually being pinged for not releasing or not rolling away, while the defensive line jumped offside far too often.

This lack of discipline just made it too easy for the Maori All Blacks to camp themselves in the Irish territory for much of the first half, and with that consistent possession and territory, they slowly but surely found gaps to exploit in the Irish defence to exploit for tries.

With Ireland likely to use a similar tactic against the All Blacks given the quality they will have to choose from on the wings (Clarke, Jordan, Ioane, Reece and Fainga’anuku), they will need to make sure that hey do so in a much more disciplined manner, or they will be gifting the game to the All Blacks.

Stars of the future

Watching this game, there were 2 players—1 on each side—who really stood out to me. The first half may as well have been called the Zarn Sullivan show, such was the impact that the Blues fullback was having. He dominated the air to deal with any high balls sent his way, helped control the territory and possession game with his monster boot (including a stunning 50/22 that gave the Maori All Blacks a lineout 6m from the Irish try line to set up his own try) and frequently found himself dominating the contact in attack even if he wasn’t breaking the first tackle or 2. At just 21, it looks like he has a bright future ahead of him, and I can’t help feel that him at 15 and Stephen Perofeta at 10 may be a more consistent combination for the Blues than the current ones featuring Beauden Barrett. While the 2023 World Cup will probably be too soon for him, don’t be shocked to see him become a regular in the 23 during the next cycle.

Meanwhile in the Irish team, number 8 Gavin Coombes was a shining star on a disappointing day for them. The 24-year-old Munster back row was one of the most dominant carriers for the Irish, breaking tackles and making the big carries to put the Irish on the front foot. This quality of carrying was also cleverly used for Bundee Aki’s try, as Coombes appeared to be carrying into contact after being fed the ball off a lineout, only to feed Aki with a short pass right before contact after he had drawn in the 2 tacklers and created the gap for Aki to scythe through. While 4 of Ireland’s back row slots for the World Cup seem to be filled with Peter O’Mahony, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan and Caelan Doris, Coombes has a chance to push for a World Cup space, where he will likely play against Romania and the Asia/Pacific 1 Qualifier (likely Tonga, but potentially South Korea/Hong Kong), before becoming a key part of the irish back row in the next cycle.

Getting back on track

WARNING: The following will contain spoilers for season 9 of the Movie Trivia Schmoedown up to and including Friday Night Titans #17

It’s not been the best of starts to the year for Korruption. While they may have managed to bring Laura Kelly back to the faction, they lost Adam Collins to S.W.A.G. In terms of matches, Kelly is yet to play in the Star Wars Division this season and was left out of the two #1 Contender Matches that were scheduled following Thomas Harper retiring and leaving the Star Wars belt vacant. Marisol McKee lost her Singles title to the returning Samm Levine, while Mike Kalinowski also lost his Innergeekdom title to Kevin Smets. And just to add to everything, Mike and Chance Ellison were forced to break up following their Team Championship loss to Shazam.

mts Friday Night Titans #9 KOrruption shannon barney mike kalinsowski chance ellison frank janisch

mts friday night titans #3 marisol mckee shannon barney

It’s not the best spot to be in as we reach the middle of the year. But it’s nothing new for Shannon Barney and company, as the faction came back from poor starts to win the Faction Championship in both seasons 7 and 8. Not only that, but losing Collins has helped push Shannon and the faction in a new, nicer route that will see them winning the support of the crowd, especially as the Stars and the Den set themselves up as the villains of the league. Oh and there is the little matter of Marisol McKee winning the Free 4 All, leaving her with a title shot of her choice. Already, the signs are there for another KOrruption comeback, and it took it’s next big step at the end of the latest episode of Titans, as Shannon Barney revealed to the faction their new teams.

Now I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who thought that Chance and Mike’s break-up would give us a team of Chance and Marisol, the 2 elite Singles competitors on the team. And it looked like they were all thinking the same judging by the shock on their faces as Shannon paired Marisol with Mike to form Team Impact. It certainly seemed odd to leave Chance out, but the reason for this was soon revealed… alongside his new teammate and the new member of KOrruption: Travis Fishburn. While it may still seem odd to some to not pair the 2 top Singles competitors together, I’ve thought about this over the weekend and I love these new teams.

KO is a fantastic player and one of the true greats of the league due to his ability to be so competitive over the main 3 divisions, but he is arguably the weakest of the 4 in the Singles Division. However he has shown that with a strong partner, he can be strong enough to not just compete for but win the Teams title against quality teams like the Founding Fathers and Shazam. Now paired with Marisol, an argument could be made that as she is a former SIngles Champion, he now has an even stronger partner than before. But what really stands out to me is that Marisol has shown that she can excel in a number of categories where an IG-specialist like Mike perhaps falls short, such as a number of classic actors and Movie Release Dates.

MTS Movie-Trivia-Schmoedown-Mike-Kalinowski-1024x576

Meanwhile, your other team sees a top competitor whose 7-6 Singles record does not come close to matching his quality, and the FCL Champion, who will be looking to prove that his 5-0 FCL run can translate into the big league. But more than just great Singles players, they are also both very well-rounded individuals, with both comfortable in Innergeekdom categories that could be used as weapons in Round 2. Not only that, but with just 5 FCL matches and a Free4All V appearance—6 rounds played, 26 correct answers out of 30 asked, 87% PPE (only beaten by McKee’s 89%)—Fishburn comes in with very little gametape for opponents to study.

But while trivia knowledge is definitely something to look at, it’s also worth looking at the personalities of the team, as by pairing the competitors as they have, both teams have that outward personality and clear mouth of the team (Fishburn & Kalinowski) that will allow Ellison and McKee to pick their moments and otherwise focus on the trivia.

It certainly feels like rather than make 1 superteam and then a second team, KOrruption have gone for a balanced approach that could create 2 very even teams, which will put them in a very strong position at a time where there are very few established teams, as it means that hey have 2 teams that can both pile on the early wins.

Hopefully it won’t be long until we get to see these new teams in action.

2022 Summer Tests: Players To Watch

As both Super Rugby Pacific and the Northern Hemisphere club rugby season come to an end, it’s time to switch our attention from club rugby to the international game as a number of the Northern Hemisphere nations go on tour:

England to Australia
Ireland to New Zealand (facing both the All Blacks and Maori All Blacks)
France to Japan
Wales to South Africa
Scotland to Argentina (while a Scotland “A” side will also face Chile in an uncapped match)
Italy to Portugal, Romania and Georgia

Now regular readers will have guessed what’s coming here, as I look at the majority of the teams above (in this case all the Six Nations and Rugby Championship teams) and pick a player from each team to watch out for during this tour. Often they will be someone relatively new to Test rugby, sometimes someone with a point to prove as they face the pressure of depth at their position, and sometimes a player who may have already made a name for themselves, but finds themselves now switching to a different position.

Of course these are just my picks, and there were certainly some other options that I could have gone with, so feel free to chuck who you would have selected in the comments!

Argentina

Starting off this list with someone who firmly falls into the third category I mentioned with Santiago Carreras. You may have noticed that I have began a series of my picks for the top 5 players in the world at each position and (SPOILERS) the Gloucester back will be appearing in one of those articles down the line. But it will not be the one about fly half, and that is where he has found himself playing in recent Tests. He certainly has the skillset to excel there, but he lacks the experience, having never started a professional club match at the position and not likely to anytime soon at Gloucester. With Michael Cheika having taken over leadership of the Pumas, will he stick with the Carreras experiment to take advantage of the depth Argentina have in the back 3, or will he look to play his best players in their best positions?

Australia

With 16 caps to his name already at the age of just 22, Angus Bell looks to be around for the long haul. A dynamic loosehead, he is becoming a much more solid scrummager and will be licking his lips at the thought of taking on the English tighthead crop with Kyle Sinckler missing. If he can cause some damage at the set piece, England could be in trouble.

England

There were so many ways to go with this pick and I was very tempted by returning players like Danny Care and Joe Cokanasiga or the inexperienced Joe Heyes, but instead I have gone for Care’s Harlequins teammate Joe Marchant. The centre has always had great attacking quality but had added a super reliable defence to his game, while he also has the ability to move out to the wing. He may have a fight to make the starting XV when everyone is available, but with both Manu Tuilagi and Henry Slade missing this tour, Marchant has a chance to push for that starting spot. His familiarity with Marcus Smith will certainly help things in attack, while he will play a big role in helping shut down an exciting Australian back line.

France

As if France weren’t dangerous enough, they may have found another future star just in time for the World Cup in the form of Yoan Tanga. The 25-year-old Racing 92 back row really stood out to me with his consistent carrying in the tight for the Barbarians in their humiliation of England last weekend, which repeatedly drew in multiple tacklers to finally get him down. The French backline is dangerous when given space, and Tanga’s carrying will just give them even more to work with.

Ireland

Sticking with the pack here, I’m going for Leinster hooker Dan Sheehan. It feels like in an ideal world with everyone available, the Irish hookers in the matchday 23 will be Sheehan and Leinster teammate Rónan Kelleher, with the big question just being who starts. However with Kelleher out injured, Sheehan will surely be the clear first choice ahead of Rob Herring and Dave Heffernan and with the World Cup just a year away, he has a legitimate chance to secure the number 2 shirt.

Italy

I was initially going with Six Nations hero Ange Capuozzo here but a second glance at the scrum half position made me change my mind. With Stephen Varney left out after a poor Six Nations that ended with injury and limited minutes for Gloucester, Callum Braley’s retirement from international rugby leaves the Azzurri short of experience at scrum half this summer. Step forward Alessandro Garbisi! Paolo’s younger brother has shone with the U20s and has been racking up the minutes for Benetton in the URC. He may not be the finished product yet, but a summer facing 3 of the top 4 teams from the 2022 Rugby Europe Championship will be a great way for him to gain experience in the senior team.

New Zealand

What a difference a season makes. Last year, the All Blacks were seriously lacking centres, whereas now they seem almost spoiled for choice. And while part of this is down to the return of Josh Goodhue from injury and another year of experience for last year’s crop, they are also helped by the arrival of Roger Tuivasa-Sheck from rugby league. The centre played 20 times for New Zealand in the 13-man code alongside almost 200 appearances in the NRL, and has grown into the 12 position in his first season with the Blues. With a great range of skills, clever footwork and good strength, Tuivasa-Sheck has the chance to be the new Sonny Bill Williams.

South Africa

Evan Roos was going to get my pick here until I realised that André Esterhuizen only had 8 caps! The Quins centre is arguably one of the best inside centres in the world, but has the challenge of being in the sae national team squad as Damian de Allende and Lukhanyo Am, while South Africa’s recent favouring of a 6-2 split on the bench has led to them usually going for a more versatile player on the bench rather than a specialist centre. However his form has been incredible over recent seasons and he is fully deserving of a return to the national team and will be looking to put in some big performances against Wales to solidify his spot in the squad ahead of the World Cup.

Scotland

Another in a similar spot to Santi Carreras, Blair Kinghorn may not be as entrenched in the Scottish XI, but he was clearly in the reckoning for a spot in the back 3. However his skillset has recently been used more at fly half, and with Finn Russell given a summer off and Adam Hastings forced to pull out of the touring squad through injury, Kinghorn looks likely to wear the 10 shirt against the Pumas. With Scotland underperforming of late and resting some key players this summer, and facing an Argentina team looking to climb back up the rankings under a new head coach, the pressure will be on Kinghorn.

Wales

Finishing off this list with a potential debutant in Tommy Reffell. Many would argue that the Leicester flanker should have been capped well before this, but he now goes into the South Africa tour off the back of a strong performance in the Premiership final. Back row is an area where Wales have plenty of quality but don’t seem to give anyone a long enough chance to secure a spot. But with Reffell’s all-round ability in the loose and real danger at the breakdown, can he prove himself worthy of an extended run in Wayne Pivac’s 23?

England v Barbarians

With Freddie Burns kicking Leicester to a late victory over Saracens, the Premiership Rugby season came to an end and the eyes of English fans turned to the Summer Tests as England kicked off the action at Twickenham with a match against the Barbarians, which saw the invitational team win 52-21 despite playing the entire second half a man down following a red card to WIll Skelton.

Of course the Baabaas are always going to be tough to judge as the are full of quality individuals but have little time together as a team, and similarly this was an England team missing its Leicester and Saracens players, so we can expect a very different team when England kick off their tour, but what can England learn from this match?

England: 21

Tries: Joe Cokanasiga (36′), Jonny May (51′), Marcus Smith (60′)

Penalties: Marcus Smith (16′, 35′)

Barbarians: 52

Tries: Penalty (18′), Charles Ollivon (24′), Damian Penaud (38′,55′) Baptiste Couilloud (46′), Louis Carbonel (67′), Max Spring (74′), Antoine Hastoy (79′)

Conversions: Antoine Hastoy (25′, 68′), George Kruis (47′, 75′, 80′)

Toothless

It’s not easy being an England fan these days.

There are some bad teams in rugby, but very few look as toothless or lost in attack as England. Eddie Jones has made a big thing of this “formationless rugby” that he wants to play, but too often when they have played this year, they have just looked lost.

Today was another such occasion. England made a couple of midfield breaks through the forwards in the early minutes, but there was no cohesion in the play, and it’s notable that their sole try in the first half came from countering a kick rather than going through the phases. It wasn’t really until the introduction of Danny Care early in the second half (by which point Will Skelton’s red card had left England with a 1-man advantage) that England started to find some shape and cohesion, scoring a couple of tries. But even then, many attacks came to dull endings or saw England letting men get isolated and turned over.

Granted it is probably an attacking style that benefits from a group of players who are used to playing together (which would of course hamper this cobbled together team) but with the World Cup just over a year away and a lot of questions still regarding the England line-up, are they running out of time. Can Owen Farrell’s experience get this attack working, either alongside Marcus Smith or in pace of him? Or is it time for Eddie Jones to consider this another failed experiment and go back to a more conventional attack.

Awful day for Atkinson

With Manu Tuilagi’s inability to stay match fit, something that England have continually lacked under Eddie Jones has been an answer for when he is not available. While Eddie Jones has usually chosen to go for a more lightweight and playmaking midfield in his star’s absence, one player whose club performances over he same timeframe should have earned him more chances was Mark Atkinson.

Well the Gloucester centre got his chance today, but it couldn’t have really gone much worse for him. England’s complete lack of structure and fluidity limited his effectiveness, which was then made even worse playing against a centre pairing of heavyweights Levani Botia and Virimi Vakatawa and a defence coached by Shaun Edwards. Meanwhile in defence, the normally solid defender fund himself falling off a few tackles and being outpaced to the outside by Damian Penaud for a break midway through the first half. Watching him today, it was sadly obvious that he hadn’t played any competitive rugby for a couple of months. And then to make it even worse, a 50/50 pass in his 22 failed to loft over Penaud and allowed the French wing to go over for a try right a England started to get back in the match.

He certainly started showing his quality more in the second half, with a couple of involvements in the build-up to Jonny May’s try, but given that’s against 14 men following Will Skelton’s red card, you can guarantee that it won’t get the recognition that it deserves.

While Atkinson’s form over recent years and his status as the only crash ball 12 available to England right now (with Tuilagi, Worcester’s Ollie Lawrence and Leicester’s Dan Kelly all out injured) should be enough to put him on the plane to Australia, it wouldn’t surprise me if this match is the excuse Eddie Jones will use to leave him out.

Welcome returns

Well there was little to be happy about for England today, fans should be pleased with the returns of Danny Care and Joe Cokanasiga. Cokanasiga was playing for England for the first time in just over a year, while Care had become one of the many whose face didn’t fit in Jones’ England, having not played since November 2018, despite having been arguably one of the best 9s in the world in recent years.

And while England lost badly, there were certainly positives to take from their performances. Cokanasiga looked to be troubled a little by an ankle injury sustained midway through the first half, but made a couple of good breaks and finished off Tommy Freeman’s stunning kick counter with a strong carry to the line with a tackler hanging off of him. With his size and power, he provides a different option out wide that could be especially useful with Manu Tuilagi missing the tour, if they can get him coming in off his wing and find some holes to punch him through in midfield.

And as for Care, well his experience and quality certainly helped England bring some shape to their attack. Will he be given the chance to show his quality Down Under? Or was he just brought in as Eddie wanted an experienced 9 in camp while Ben Youngs was still with Leicester. If care isn’t on the plane to Australia, it may be time for a riot.

Top 5: Tighthead Props

Welcome back to my “Top 5” rugby series. This 13-article series has been inspired by countless conversations among friends or other fans over the years and will see me selecting my top 5 men’s rugby players who are currently playing at each position.

With all of these lists, I am picking who I feel are the best 5 at each position, so there may be some surprises in there as I select the players who I feel are most appropriate to the position despite there being multiple ways to play many positions. I try to watch rugby from a broad range of leagues as well as plenty (or too much, depending how you ask) of Test matches, but I appreciate that I still have some blind spots, while a list like this is subjective; so while the majority of each article will be my list, I also set my good friend and occasional collaborator Phil the challenge to select his top 5, which I will include below. I’d also love to hear your picks, so go ahead and post them in the comments!

Today, we complete our front row by looking at tighthead props.

Top 5

Loosehead prop
Hooker
Tighthead prop

Tadhg Furlong

To put it kindly, Furlong is a freak of nature. A strong scrummager, the Irishman is devastating in the loose, able to crash through a defence like a charging rhinoceros, but also with the footwork to beat a man and a pass that a fly half would be proud of.

Taniela Tupou

If you’re building a fantasy rugby team, you’d be a fool to leave out Tupou. The “Tongan Thor” is an absolute behemoth and very much a physical threat, but what really sets him apart is his pace and his engine. By prop standards, he’s a cheetah, which creates a matchup nightmare, while he has the stamina to keep going long after his fellow props have been replaced. One of the few world class players in the Wallabies team.

Andrew Porter

How lucky are Ireland and Leinster to be able to select both Furlong and Porter! He may not quite have the skillset of his teammate, but he scrummages as well and can also carry effectively and show some impressive handling skills. But what is also impressive is how he has solidified himself as a legitimate Test option at both tight and loosehead, giving extra tactical flexibility.

Frans Malherbe

Let me start by admitting that of the 5 men on my list, Malherbe is arguably the least influential in the loose. However, the first role of a prop is to dominate at the scrum, which is exactly what Malherbe does. The third member of South Africa’s “Bomb Squad” to make this list, Malherbe’s excellence at the set piece is a vital part of the Springboks’ recent success.

Kyle Sinckler

He’s cut out the temper tantrums and this more experienced and mature Kyle Sinckler earns the final spot on this list. A solid scrummager, Sinckler is also a big factor in the loose when used to his full extent (hint hint Eddie). An absolute wrecking ball when carrying, you also certainly wouldn’t want to find yourself running down his channel when he’s in defence.

Phil’s top 5: Taniela Tupou, Tadhg Furlong, Andrew Porter, Kyle Sinckler, VIncent Koch

Who makes your top 5?

Upward Trajectories

After a highly impressive victory over Toulouse in the semifinal, many were expecting Leinster to once again win the Champions Cup final last weekend. However, La Rochelle had different ideas, and Arthur Retière’s late try helped secure a 24-21 victory for the Top 14 outfit.

And while many people will be celebrated for the victory, one notable name is really adding to their legacy: Ronan O’Gara. The Munster and Ireland fly half had a legendary playing career which has seen him inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame, but his coaching career is taking him to even higher levels. After retiring from playing in 2013, O’Gara joined Racing 92 as a defence coach, who won the Top 14 once during his 4-year spell. From there, he moved to New Zealand to join Scott Robertson’s Crusaders team as a backs coach, and during his spell there, the Crusaders won back-to-back Super Rugby titles. After this success, O’Gara jumped up to the top spot as head coach of La Rochelle. Having been promoted to the Top 14 in 2014, the team had been developing some consistency in making the playoffs, and O’Gara built on that, with the team losing in the finals of both the Top 14 and the Champions Cup (both to Toulouse), before taking the step forward to win the ultimate European prize this season. And while results have generally gone well, it is also the performances and O’Gara’s way of thinking that has drawn praise from players, pundits and fans alike. It’s hard to imagine anyone else being the frontrunner for the Irish job if Andy Farrell were to step away right now, and in fact probably the bigger question is whether he comes back to lead a province beforehand, especially with Munster going through somewhat of a rebuild this summer and also seeing Graham Rowntree come in as head coach.

With O’Gara’s growth and development surely making an international appointment just a matter of “when” rather than “if”, it got me thinking of some other coaches whose success surely has them deserving of—or well on their way to—an international head coaching gig.

Scott Robertson

If I’d been in charge of selecting Steve Hansen’s successor, Robertson would already be the head coach of the All Blacks. While the All Blacks have faltered, the Crusaders have continued their success, and Robertson has been key to it. After the dark days of the end of Todd Blackadder’s reign, which saw the team finish as low as 7ᵗʰ in the 2015 and 2016 Super Rugby seasons, the team won 3 Super Rugby tournaments in a row and were running 3ʳᵈ when the 2020 Super Rugby season was halted by COVID. However, they then won back-to-back Super Rugby Aotearoa titles, while a 3ʳᵈ-place finish in Super Rugby Trans-Tasman saw them miss out on a spot in the final by just 6 points (which must have hit them hard as they conceded a try at the death in 2 wins, one of which even denied them a bonus point). However, they once again finished in the top 2 of the table in the inaugural Super Rugby Pacific season and (at time of writing, ahead of the quarterfinals) will be looking to earn that title over the coming weeks.

Robertson is (in my opinion) one of the top coaches out there, and I’ll be shocked if he is not appointed the All Blacks head coach following the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

Steve Borthwick

Another player whose quick turnaround of a struggling team to return them to greatness, Steve Borthwick already has experience in an international coaching setup as England forwards coach, before moving to Leicester. Tigers had just finished 11ᵗʰ in back-to-back seasons, but Borthwick immediately turned things around and got the team back into the top half of the table in the 2020/21 season, before topping the table in the 2021/22 season to secure a home semi-final.

Though he has limited experience as a head coach, he has showed that he can get a team united in one vision and turn around a team with high expectations in a tough league, while his experience at Test level both as a player and forwards coach would set him up as a great option for many international teams, perhaps he will even be Eddie Jones’ replacement after RWC2023.

Stuart Lancaster

The former England head coach has the ignominy of leading England to their pool-stage exit at RWC2015, but it is clear that other parties were interfering with that run—highlighted by the Sam Burgess saga. However his move to Leinster, where he is a senior coach, has seen him earn praise across the board, while Leinster have won 4 consecutive Pro14s, a Champions Cup and at time of writing are probably the favourites to win the inaugural URC having topped the combined table.

Such has been his success, it’s time that he gets another shot at Test level, perhaps with a nation that has slightly lower expectations than England (how much would an Italy/Georgia/USA benefit from a coach of his calibre) while teams like Wales and Scotland may also want someone reliable to steady the ship following the disappointing (so far) reigns of Wayne Pivac and Gregor Townsend.

Shaun Edwards

The best defensive coach in World Rugby. The former Wigan rugby league star has become known for his time as defence coach of Wales, the 2009 British & Irish Lions and now France, where he has solidified himself as one of the best coaches in the game. But he also has plenty of head coaching experience, having led Wasps (then London Wasps) from 2005-2011, having started there as a defence/backs coach in 2001. Edwards’ trophy cabinet speaks for itself:

Wasps assistant coach: 1 Heineken Cup, 3 Premierships
Wasps head coach: 1 Heineken Cup, 1 European Challenge Cup, 1 Premiership
Wales assistant coach: 3 Six Nations
France assistant coach: 1 Six Nations

Edwards sets a culture within the team, which helps lead to success. If the RFU aren’t looking at him as Eddie Jones’ replacement following the World Cup, it will be a crime!

Who else would you add to this list?

Eyes on the Ball

Thoughts from the world of sport and the Schmoedown

Month: June 2022