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From New Zealand’s demolition job, to the Lions’ brutal intensity against the Maori, there was plenty to enjoy over the weekend. Catch up now!
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New Zealand vs Samoa
Call it intent duly stated. Call it a marker laid down. Call it whatever you want – the way the All Blacks went about dismantling Samoa at Eden Park was never less than impressive, often brilliant, and on more than one occasion slipped into scary. Any hope the Lions had of catching the World Champions cold in the first Test next weekend quickly vanished, as New Zealand ran in 12 tries in a performance so clinical it froze nitrogen.
Australia vs Scotland
Meetings between these two teams have become must-see TV in recent years. The epic 2015 World Cup quarter final kicked off the rivalry. The one-pointer in November 2016 was another hard-fought classic. Those matches gave this encounter in Sydney an added level of intensity, an extra layer of pressure on new Scotland coach Gregor Townsend in only his second game in charge of a weakened Scottish side. And the two sides duly delivered.
NZ Maori vs Lions
Twenty-four hours after New Zealand had not so much laid down the gauntlet in Auckland as thrown it down with such force it left a crater, the Lions dug deep and picked it up in Rotorua. The tourists could never hope to match the All Blacks’ cutting edge slice for slice, so they set about demonstrating how they intend to blunt it – with weaponised defence. They were brutal intensity personified, snuffing out every Maori attack before it got started, denying their opponents space, or time, or – for large portions of the game – the ball.
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South Africa vs France
It’s probably safe to say the nightmare of 2016 is over for the Springboks, after they took an unassailable 2-0 series lead in Durban. But the knives are out for France coach Guy Noves. His crime? Letting French rugby fans dare to believe in ‘flair’ once again, and then failing to even apparently try to deliver on tour. Yes, it has been another punishing French domestic season. And, yes, France rarely play well in their June tours. But, really, that performance was unacceptable. Especially in this new era of French rugby.
Argentina vs England
For the second match in a row, Eddie Jones’s England found a way to win. And, two years out from the World Cup in Japan, the stats are impressive: 21 wins from 22 matches, only England’s second series win in Argentina, and one completed while shorn of 30 players, with 11 of those on tour making their debuts. Like the first match of the tour, this one was in the balance going into the final quarter. Unlike the opening game in San Juan, this time England were more clinical. It bodes well as Jones prepares for the next phase of his assault on the 2019 World Cup. The question is: does it bode well enough?
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