Nine Things We Learned From Last Night's Internationals

Scotty Stevenson emerges from a rugby-watching marathon with nine key talking points.

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1. The Boks Have Zero Imagination
England kicked 39 times to the Springboks and the Springboks kicked it all away. This is a team that does not understand the difference between a kick return and returning a kick. Willie Le Roux used to be one of the most exciting counter-attackers in the game, and yet his ten carries against England netted him just 29 metres. Compare that with England fullback Mike Brown who topped all runners in the game with 72.

English writer Tom Hamilton suggested England didn’t have to get out of second gear to beat the Springboks. He’s right. No team does at the moment. All they have to do is give them the ball and wait for it to come back to them. “Chess on steroids” was how Eddie Jones described their playing style. Not bad, Eddie. Not bad at all.

2. Malakai Fekitoa just played his best game for the All Blacks
I mean, have you seen this guy’s numbers against Italy? Fekitoa, who this week spoke about losing his passion for the game in the middle of the season, carried 15 times for 144 metres, beat five defenders, made four clean breaks, scored two tries, and set another one up. Forget for a moment that the opposition was about as handy as a two-handled hammer and just admire the effort from the All Blacks midfielder.

3. Will Skelton is a liability
The Wallabies lock is 140 kilograms of man with not a clue to be found.

4. Scotland is the unluckiest team in rugby
Just when it looked like Scotland was about to right the wrongs of their Rugby World Cup loss to Australia, they found a way to fold in the last four minutes of the game and let Tevita Kuridrani ruin things all over again. It’s hard watching Scotland lose test matches. Vern Cotter has unleashed a genuine creativity within this team and yet they still lack the killer instinct to be regular contenders.

5. The two best teams this weekend had the two best kicking halfbacks
England and the All Blacks were the two most impressive sides going this weekend and, not surprisingly, they are getting the most value from their halfbacks’ boots. Tawera Kerr-Barlow may not have the snap or the crackle of Aaron Smith or TJ Perenara with the ball in hand but he more than makes up for it with his box kicks.

Ben Youngs, who deserves far more praise for his play, was aerially outstanding as well. Having halfbacks control the kick tempo allows the tens to play with more freedom. Ford still kicked ten times in the match, but it was Youngs’ kicking game that really stood out.

If you want evidence of how hard it is to combat a good halfback kicking game, you only have to go back a week and watch Connor Murray’s work against the All Blacks in Chicago. He kicked 14 times in the match, while Aaron Smith kicked just three times. Effective halfback kicking is a winning formula.

6. The Pumas need tackling practice
Wales were so ordinary against Australia last weekend that they should have been playing in beige. Yet despite their limitations on attack, Wales still found a way to force 20 missed tackles on the Pumas and win the game. The Pumas averaged 22 missed tackles per game during the Rugby Championship and things haven’t much improved.

7. Facundo Isa is the best number eight in the world right now
You can talk all you like about the nominees for World Rugby Player of the Year but the fact the Argentine number eight is not on the shortlist is a travesty. A beast of a ball runner, Isa topped the metre count for the Pumas against Wales this weekend, and made the most tackles to boot – a stand out statistic given the defensive woes of this team.

Isa was the best forward of the Rugby Championship earlier in the year – beating the third most defenders of anyone in the competition, running for 361 metres off a staggering 85 carries in five games (5th overall, and one of just two forwards in the top ten. Jerome Kaino was 10th with 233 metres) and offloading at will. Isa would be first pick in a decent fantasy rugby team.

8. Eddie Jones is an Evil Genius
Okay, we already knew that.

9. ALB and Izzy Dagg should have played last weekend
What were the All Blacks coaches thinking leaving two of their best in the stands against Ireland last week? Anton Lienert-Brown may be young and inexperienced at test level but he is an absolute freak show with the best sleight of hand routine in the game. His try assist pop ball to Waisake Naholo deserves to be watched over and over again.

Meanwhile, Izzy Dagg continues to impress on the wing. This is the guy who couldn’t get back to full fitness for the Rugby World Cup and who looked to be all washed up as an international player. Now he is the best right winger New Zealand has, a masterful attacker, a key organiser on defence and still runs about with his tongue hanging out. Glorious.

So, tell me again why they didn’t play against Ireland…