Autumn Nations Series 2022: Combined XV

The Autumn Series is over for another year. 1 year out from the Rugby World Cup and South Africa are developing a more expansive game; France and Ireland are reaching new heights; Italy are finally seeing the results from a complete rebuild of their infrastructure; and a number of big teams are looking in deep trouble.

And so as we look back on 5 weeks of action, all that remains is for me to make my customary combined XV, and let me tell you it was not easy given some of the performances. Who would make your XV? Let me know in the comments.

My Team of the Autumn Nations Series is…

1) Pierre Schoeman: Carried well and was strong in the scrummage to help create a platform for the backs to attack off, while also giving us a moment of comedy with his Superman impression as he tried illegally jumping over a tackle.

2) Ken Owens: The Sheriff’s return showed just what Wales have been missing at hooker. Had a few wobbles at the lineout but seemed more reliable than before his time out, while his carrying and willingness to make the hard metres is something that Wales has desperately needed.

3) Frans Malherbe: Found himself getting penalised at the scrum maybe a little more than usual, but the way he manhandled the English scrum was such a dominant performance that could not be ignored. Having been his plaything in 2 matches now, Mako Vunipola likely comes out in a cold sweat whenever he hears the Springbok’s name.

4 & 5) Eben Etzebeth & Tadhg Beirne: Etzebeth is in the form of his life and it is a joy to behold, that he wasn’t nominated for World Rugby Men’s 15s Player of the Year is a farce! Meanwhile Beirne continues to do what he does best in every game: does his duty at the set piece, causes nightmares at the breakdown and has a positive impact in the loose.

6) Jac Morgan: The silver lining to a dismal Autumn for Wales. Carried in a way that Wales have been missing for a long time, consistently making yards in the contact and finishing with 4 tries. Looked completely at home on the Test stage and should now be looking to secure the 6 shirt as his during the Six Nations.

7) Dalton Papali’i: Sam Cane’s absence gave Papali’i a chance to show what he could do, and such was his quality that Ian Foster should be looking to name a new captain. Made a positive impact all over the pitch, while adding much more threat with ball in hand. Great reading of the English gameplan to intercept Jack van Poortvliet’s pass away from the lineout and had the pace to run in untouched from halfway.

8) Lorenzo Cannone: The younger Cannone brother is the second back row on this list to have only debuted for his country this year, but is fully deserving of his place here, even given the form of Ardie Savea. Looked comfortably at home on the Test stage and consistently popped up as a carrying option to help the Azzurri get on the front foot. Fully deserving of his tries against Samoa and South Africa.

9) Stephen Varney: Had a hard time last season with limited minutes for Gloucester, while his form in the Six Nations wasn’t great before his injury. But was back to his absolute best this Autumn, providing quick ball for his team while also controlling the game well with some great kicking.

10) Finn Russell: Gregor Townsend better feel like an absolute moron for dropping him. Came in after 2 ordinary performances from Blair Kinghorn and Adam Hastings and put in 2 wonderful performances, almost beating the All Blacks. With Russell playing, the Scottish performances are taken to a completely different level.

11) Mark Nawaqanitawase: Commentators better get used to pronouncing his name as he looks like he will be around for a long time. Looked better with each match he played and was key to Australia’s comeback against Wales. With his blend of pace and power, he reminds me somewhat of George North when he first hit the Test Rugby scene.

12) Stuart McCloskey: Finally got a chance and looked every bit the Test player, despite injury and personnel changes around him making it far harder to bed himself in. Hopefully he gets to keep the 12 shirt for the Six Nations but will come under pressure from the returning Bundee Aki.

13) Len Ikitau: Has secured his spot in the Australian XV and quietly gone about his business over the last year to under the radar become one of the best 13s in Test rugby. Despite frequent personnel changes all around him, Ikitau has become one of those reliable defensive linchpins up there with Chris Harris and Lukhanyo Am.

14) Kurt-Lee Arendse: Talk about taking your chances! The absence of Cheslin Kolbe gave Arendse his opportunity and he’s been undroppable since. Scored in every match of the series on the way to 5 tries in total, looking comfortable as part of the territory game or South Africa’s more expansive play.

15) Willie le Roux: This series showed just how vital le Roux is to the Springboks. As they looked at fly half options beyond the injured Handré Pollard, they looked rudderless when he wasn’t playing, but like potential World Cup winners when he was at 15, such is the way that he comes in as an extra playmaker and take pressure off of his 10. Always seems to be the one throwing the key pass for a South African try.

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Autumn Nations Series 2022: France v South Africa

A Saturday full of rugby came to an end in Marseille as France hosted South Africa. A hugely physical start saw Faf de Klerk’s early offside give Thomas Ramos an early kick from range, which he despatched with ease for a 3-0 lead. With Willie le Roux back in at 15, South Africa were looking much more comfortable than last week, but things became much harder after 11 minutes as Pieter-Steph du Toit was sent off for a dangerous clean-out to the head of Jonathan Danty. As both teams continued to look to play positive rugby, a turnover by Charles Ollivon caught Kwagga Smith offside for Ramos to double the lead, while the World Champions found their lineout reliability taking a huge hit, and when France finally found themselves with possession in the visitors’ 22, Cyril Baille managed to force himself over from close range. While the French were starting to take hold of the game, they were struggling to deal with the Springboks’ driving maul, and one such maul earned the visitors a penalty just inside the French half which Cheslin Kolbe kicked to put them on the board after 25 minutes, while the next one 5 minutes later saw Siya Kolisi break out as it collapsed to go over for a try without any tackler even getting close. As the half came to a close, Ox Nche was penalised for not rolling away, and Ramos successfully bisected the posts for a 16-10 lead at the break.

Another penalty from Kolbe cut the lead to 3 soon after the restart, but when Faf de Klerk failed to effectively clear his lines under pressure from Cameron Woki, a mighty French maul allowed Thomas Ramos to almost immediately take the lead back out to 6. What had already been a crazy game then took it’s next massive twist, as Antoine Dupont was given a red card for taking out Cheslin Kolbe in the air just 8 minutes into the half, and after a series of penalties in the corner, the South African forwards attacked infield and then he ball went back blind for Willie le Roux to put Kurt-Lee Arendse over in the corner, de Klerk kicking the conversion (having taken over kicking duties while Kolbe underwent a HIA) to put the Boks ahead, before kicking a penalty minutes later. France hit back with a Ramos penalty just before the hour. As both sides emptied the benches going into the final half hour, Maxime Lucu and Sekou Macalou just combined to force Kurt-Lee Arendse into touch as he went hunting another try, but the French wing was pinged moments later for getting back to his feet when held, and with both de Klerk and Kolbe off the pitch, Damian Willemse found he target with his penalty. As the game entered the final 10 minutes, South African replacement Deon Fourie was sent to the bin for an offence at the French maul, while Romain Ntamack made way for Mathieu Jalibert, but it was the forwards who put France back ahead, as their siege on the try line saw Sipili Falatea pushed over the line with a pick and go, but a first miss of the night from Ramos left them with just a 1-point lead with 5 minutes remaining. As the clock ticked down, a huge scrum from the French against the depleted Springbok pack allowed Thomas Ramos to kick the lead to 4 points. South Africa secured the restart, but a crucial turnover from Yoram Moefana won the ball back for Les Bleus and they held out for the final 30 seconds for a 30-26 victory.

rugby south africa springboks crest no background

Pushovers

One thing that will likely have Fabien Galthié a little worried will be just how effective the Springboks maul was. Despite being a (very big!) man down, the Springboks were making France look like Japan, such was the ease they were making metres with the maul.

Now granted this isn’t France’s ideal pack (or biggest, with players like Paul Willemse missing) and the sheer number or injury-enforced changes made early on won’t have helped, but these were not fringe players packing down against the Springboks and being made to look they they were facing a team 2-3 age grades above them. As the game went on, the French pack had some success themselves with the driving maul, but they still looked at risk whenever the visitors were setting the maul.

France have a wonderful all-round team, but teams with big physical packs will look at those maul and perhaps see a chink in the French armour. The good news is, with almost a year still to go, there is still plenty of time to work on this.

Where there’s a Willie, there’s a way

Is there anybody more underrated in Test rugby than Willie le Roux. Often panned online by fans, and continually looking to be replaced by the coaches, the experienced fullback continues to show his quality when given the chance.

Granted he isn’t the best defensively, but what he does is so vital to the Springboks attack, as he plays the second playmaker role, comfortably coming in at first or second receiver depending on the phase and what the team are looking to do, while when he takes the ball around the 13 channel, there are very few players who will time the simple pass tot he winger so perfectly while making it look so easy.

Right now, South Africa have a serious issue at fly half, but it is notable just how much less of an issue this is when le Roux is there to assist them, as he takes so much pressure off of them and allows them to focus on what they do best—a perfect example being how last week Damian Willemse’s runs with the ball brought the attack to a standstill, while this week they looked like a way to draw in defenders and look for a gap to exploit.

So go ahead and keep hating him, he may just be the difference between defending the World Cup or losing in the quarterfinals.

Lions Tour 2021: Team of the Series

We are now a couple of days removed from the decisive third Test, which saw Morné Steyn’s late penalty hand the World Champions a 2-1 series win. So before we turn our attention from the Lions Tour and onto the Rugby Championship, all that remains is to pick the Team of the Series.

For this, I will purely be selecting based on the 3 Test matches, so players like Josh Adams and Tadhg Beirne who had solid tours but barely featured in the Tests will not make the squad. Now of course, the biggest issue with limiting myself to just the 3 Tests is that they were three of the worst matches that I have ever witnessed, so I hate to admit it but many of these selections came down to “who was the least worst?” rather than “who was the best?”

Let me know who would make your XV.

1) Trevor Nyakane: Had Wyn Jones been fit for the full 3 Tests then I think there could have been some more competition here, but injury limiting him to just over 40 minutes of rugby and the lack of consistency from Mako Vunipola or Rory Sutherland made this an easy win for the South African. Steven Kitshoff may have got the start for 2 of the Tests, but it was Nyakane who really shone, putting some poor performances behind him to justify his spot in the 23, winning a number of key penalties in the scrum.

2) Luke Cowan-Dickie: Bongi Mbonambi was far from his best, Malcom Marx didn’t get enough minutes and Ken Owens’ lineout issues were exploited, so Cowan-Dickie gets the nod here. Despite not quite reaching the level of the warm-up matches, he was the most reliable of the hookers, while his strong carrying and low body position caused an issue for tacklers.

3) Tadhg Furlong: Furlong did not always have things his own way but was largely reliable both in the scrum and around the park. Vunipola and Jones’ success against Frans Malherbe in the first and third Tests respectively did the Irishman a favour here.

4 & 5) Maro Itoje & Eben Etzebeth: Finally a position where it was hard to choose due to the high quality of performances. I am often critical of Maro Itoje as he too often toes the line of legality, but when he holds back just that tiny fraction and stays legal, he is a world class player and showed it throughout the series, with his performance in the first match arguably the performance of the series. Meanwhile Etzebeth did a great job of breaking up the Lions’ lineout at key moments, while also carrying hard in midfield to break the gain line.

6) Siya Kolisi: So as this series went ahead in South Africa, I am looking at the flankers from a South African point of view, meaning that 6 is the openside position. Tom Curry certainly had his moments, but what really stood out in his play were the penalties he conceded, while Kolisi combined solid play around the park with the burden of captaining the World Champions to a series victory.

7) Pieter-Steph du Toit: Courtney Lawes put in some solid performances, but nothing that stood out from what is expected of any player. The same can be said from Franco Mostert. Du Toit may not have even featured in half of the series, going off injured midway through the first half of the second Test, but while he was on the park he stood out, especially with his cleaning up of some erratic passing by Handré Pollard in the first Test.

8) Jack Conan: Boy did this series miss Duane Vermeulen. Kwagga Smith’s skillset did not suit the usual Springbok approach, while Jasper Wiese was a penalty machine. Jack Conan was quieter than ideal and butchered a fantastic opportunity to score in the second Test by carrying on what appeared to be a set move off a scrum rather than playing what was in front of him, but was by far the most impressive of the number 8s with a number of dynamic carries.

9) Faf de Klerk: Ali Price came close, but a couple of key interventions earned the Sale halfback the pick here. A fantastic game manager whose style of play is perfect for the current South African approach. Mad a try-saving ball-and-all tackle on Conor Murray off a Lions scrum 5m from the Springbok line, while put in a clever grubber for Lukhanyo Am’s try in the second Test.

10) Finn Russell: Maybe a controversial pick here as he only played 70 minutes, but Pollard was erratic at times with his passing and goal kicking, while the Lions’ tactics limited Biggar far too much. Russell came in and barely puta foot wrong, varying the game up much more and causing real problems for the South African defence. If only we’ seen more of this.

11) Makazole Mapimpi: Is Mapimpi one of he most underrated wings in international rugby? The wing is forced to play a largely defensive role and does it well, but when given the chance to score he was clinical, with a and an assist in the second Test. Imagine how dangerous he would be in a team that created more chances for him.

12) Robbie Henshaw: Damian de Allende was a solid reliable option at 12 and at many positions that would have been enough to earn selection, but unfortunately he finds himself up against Robbie Henshaw. Despite playing with a different centre partner in each Test (and shifted to 13 for the decider) Henshaw was reliable in both defence and attack, while his 2 breaks of note through the series were more than any other Lion managed.

13) Lukhanyo Am: Granted he wasn’t tested overmuch, but this series was anther great opportunity for Am to show his proficiency as one of the best defensive 13s in world rugby. Did a great job of shutting down a number of the Lions’ attacks and scored a crucial try as momentum shifted in their favour during the second Test.

14) Cheslin Kolbe: Arguably should have received a red and a yellow (if not 2 reds) in the second Test, but was allowed to play and earns his spot here. While quiet, his try was a timely reminder of his quality as he fended off Luke Cowan-Dickie and stepped Liam Williams. That Mapimpi and Kolbe basically earned selection by finishing off tries shows just how poor things were out wide.

15) Willie le Roux: The World Cup winner was relatively solid but far from spectacular, but even that was enough to beat out Stuart Hogg. It says it all that Liam Williams was in with a shot despite only playing in the decider, but his selfishness with a 2v1 was criminal. At least le Roux showed us how it should be done when given a chance later in the match, setting up Cheslin Kolbe for his try.

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