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Lions watch: Chastening weekend for Home Nations

Huw Jones carries the ball forward - PA

With England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales all losing, it was a very disappointing weekend for the Home Nations, from which the British & Irish Lions squad to tour Australia next year will be drawn.

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First up, Ireland’s 19-game winning home run – and subsequently their reign at the top of the world rankings – came to a limp end at the hands of the All Blacks on Friday night before England suffered last-second heartache against Australia the following day.

And then on Sunday, Wales were beaten for the first time at home by Fiji and Scotland’s long wait for a win against the Springboks goes on after a 32-15 loss to the world champions at Murrayfield.

Not many players put their hand up for selection across those four defeats, but we’ve identified six from the first full weekend of Autumn Nations Series fixture to have furthered their case for inclusion.

Marcus Smith (England)

An audible groan echoed around Twickenham when it seemed as though George Ford was being brought on the for the devilishly good Smith with just over an hour played. Instead, the Harlequins player was moved to full-back and took advantage of his stay of execution to continue to show off his full array of skills. On a Lions tour, that ability to slot into multiple positions, kick goals and come up with big moments says Lions player all over. Smith will have to play himself out of the squad rather than in it.

Chandler Cunningham-South (England)

Rob Valetini, ‘stands out because of his hair but his performance was also a cut above’, one writer critiqued following the Wallabies’ stunning 42-37 win over England. But the same could be said for England blindside Chandler Cunningham-South, whose two tries inside the first 12 minutes gave England a 15-3 lead, and so much hope. With one scored out wide and the other from close range, Cunningham-South’s brace of tries encapsulated what he’s all about. The Harlequins enforcer is equally at home finishing off moves on the edge as he is ploughing through heavy traffic (gaining 43 metres, while he also packs a punch in defence too (18 tackles made), as well as being a very good lineout option.

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Huw Jones (Scotland)

Having made the joint most line breaks of any centre in a men’s Tier 1 Test match this decade against Fiji (five), Jones had another very good game against South Africa aide from one pass into touch above Duhan van der Merwe’s head and a little knock-on to deny Ben White a late try. The Glasgow man hit some very good lines again, and showed his stepping skills, breaking five tackles and carrying eight times for 101 metres, as well as producing a through-the-legs pass.

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Tom Jordan (Scotland)

It would be a stretch, to say the least, for Scotland’s latest kilted Kiwi to be on the plane to Australia given he has only played two Tests. But in terms of ‘bolters’, he has really laid down a marker with his performances against Fiji and South Africa. After a couple of early defensive lapses, the versatile Glasgow back shone in his first start at full-back and was only player on the pitch to make more than 100 metres, along with five tackle breaks and three line breaks.

Jac Morgan (Wales)

The return of their World Cup co-captain for his first Test appearance of the year provided one bright spot on an otherwise bleak day for Wales. Morgan had 35 minutes on the pitch and made a difference, albeit not enough to avert a dispiriting loss to Fiji, with his explosive ball carrying.

Andrew Porter (Ireland)

Another immense shift from the loose-head, whose likely opposite number in the Lions series, Angus Bell, was also in excellent form. Porter doesn’t make the eye-catching carries of Bell but when it comes to work-rate and rolling your sleeves up in the nitty-gritty of the game, the Leinster man knows no peers. Put in 74-minute shift and was unfortunate to be on the losing side.

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2 Comments
B
BS 9 days ago

I think Zander Fagerson did himself no harm at the weekend. Tighthead prop seems to be a potential area of weakness for the Home Nations with Tadgh Furlong the undisputed number 1 for so long, but injuries seem to have taken a toll on him recently. Fagerson has been consistently excellent for the last 12-18 months, improving his discipline at the same time and at the weekend the scrum completely fell apart after he went off. He can also go 80 minutes which he showed in Glasgows run to the URC title last season which is no mean feat for a tighthead prop!

J
Jon 9 days ago

Good shout, didn't back down either when the Springboks got involved with a bit of argy-bargy

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JW 3 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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