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The two best teams in the world
By Ben Smith
The two best teams in the world are clearly France and Ireland and the latest rankings by World Rugby finally reflect that.
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France have been on the up since the last World Cup and currently sit on a 10 test winning streak, having claimed a Grand Slam Six Nations title earlier in the year.
Ireland’s 2-1 series win over New Zealand continued their great run, before that they had won 12 of their last 15 tests over a two-year period.
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Two of their three losses were to France, while an early red card to Peter O’Mahony led to a close loss to Wales in Cardiff in the 2021 Six Nations. They have now won 14 of their last 18 tests, a touch below 80 per cent.
The France side that has defeated Ireland twice over the last two Six Nations is their antithesis when it comes to style.
They have the polar opposite game to Ireland and it worked to defeat them, albeit on both occasions by a small margin.
France kick the most out of the Six Nations sides, keeping the ball-in-hand the least. Yet, when they decide to play, they take the most risks. They offload more than any of their European rivals.
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France and Italy were the only sides to kick out-of-hand more than 30 times against Ireland this year. Wales (15), Scotland (25), and England (24) were all short of that mark and lost.
Ireland of course have the world’s best attacking patterns and play a ball-in-hand possession game, while kicking and offloading the least.
Despite the differences between Ireland and France, the consistency of results from these two teams is far beyond any other team right now, including the 2019 World Cup winners South Africa, who haven’t backed up the win in Japan with any sort of dominance to suggest they were ever the best team to begin with.
The Lions series was a decent start but taking results against the other top regarded sides (France, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and England), the Springboks were one from five against them at a 20 per cent win rate in 2021 after skipping out on 2020.
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They haven’t played Ireland since 2017 or France since 2018 so they sit in the dark about where they sit against the top two and their 20 per cent win rate against the other three isn’t pretty for a team that was crowned and trumpeted as the world’s best.
The Welsh were tough opponents in South Africa but ultimately they were the ninth-ranked team heading into the series and should have been swept 3-0. They nearly stole the first test and won the second, before finally a comprehensive Springbok win.
Considering how the Welsh sides played in South Africa during the United Rugby Championship, to lose one of the tests is remarkable, experimentation or not.
The expectation from inside South Africa from figures like former coach Nick Mallet, rightly assumed wins of 15 points or more from the first test.
The Boks are 60 per cent since the World Cup which is below the mark Ian Foster currently has with the All Blacks, 66 per cent, and the reaction from each country’s public and media couldn’t be more different.
The two sides will meet in South Africa where the home side finally have a chance to start prove themselves against the worst performing All Black side of the last 25 years.
The Springboks went one from four against New Zealand and Australia Down Under last year, qualified by the ‘we played away’ excuse.
In the Rassie Erasmus/Jacques Nienaber era, the Springboks have a 36 per cent win rate against their annual rivals, Australia and New Zealand, with just four wins from 11 tests since 2018. It’s hardly the mark of greatness.
There will never be a better time to put the All Blacks away, with back-to-back tests on home soil, to help improve that dire return.
The real challenge will be France and Ireland away at the end of the year, while they have also historically struggled in Australia. The least they can do is take the opportunity being handed to them right now with New Zealand.
England’s comeback to win the series in Australia was a significant achievement on their path back into the top five nations, highlighting the importance of the Saracens’ core with the return of Billy Vunipola.
With the barnstorming No 8 back in the mix, England were a completely different side and sparked into life in Brisbane. The breaking up of the Saracens core was detrimental to England and now it looks like it might have a second wind.
The way they played in the second test was the best they had played in almost two years, with new halfback Jack van Portfliet igniting their tempo on a dry surface helping England play a fast and accurate passing game.
Australia have still struggled without Quade Cooper available. They went on a five test win streak once he returned last year and then went winless on the end of year tour. Still, just four points separated England and Australia in the third and final test suggesting there was not much between the two sides.
France, despite a lesser series against Japan, still deserve to be considered the best side with the current run they are on. Ireland is in the same league and they are the top two sides in the world followed by the rest of the pack.
The Rugby Championship will sort out numbers three through five, with England there or thereabouts.
Ben Smith is really stupid.
You'd think this guy would have a better understanding of rugby considering his profession. How did Ireland beat NZ Ben? How did France beat NZ? In both instances their forwards beat them up. They going to be able to do that to a Springbok pack? No? Then what?
This guy really has a chip on his shoulder about SA...doesn't matter how many world cups they win or how long they are at No.1, according to Ben they are always "over-rated". When does actual reality start to matter in journalism Ben? France and Ireland both have a 25% win record vs SA. Ireland haven't beaten them since 2017 and France since 2009...but they are clearly way better? Put your money where your mouth is and write an apology article after the Nov tests when SA beat both of them at home.
Read through the comments. A few Saffies seem a bit nervous judging by the way they're competing to dismiss Ireland and France. That would be a mistake. They are both a serious threat. I dont think either team has remotely peaked, either. If anyone has run their course it's Jones' England, he's long overdue replacing. Allegations of 'chokery' are just silly. Granted our WC record is really poor, but only a fool would dismiss this Ireland team. See youse in November, fellas. Be ready.
Ironically I think Ireland have the least room for improvement out of any of the top 6 - part of the reason they look so cohesive is because they're basically Leinster transplanted, and that inherent advantage is considerably lessened by all sides getting prolonged training camps before the World Cup. They are already playing incredibly close to their peak and they don't have the depth at half back and in the front row that others do. England have a tonne of players to come back from injury and have unearthed a few young gems even if they're not playing well (it's worth pointing out they were inconsistent right up until the tournament itself in 2019), France have a younger side that will only get more experienced, Australia also have several players to reintroduce after injuries, NZ will likely be better for Schmidt's involvement and South Africa are tournament animals. I think Ireland are struggling to break the curse next year truth be told.
Opinions are like arseholes everyone has one,I agree the French have a good side the Irish on the other hand I really don't consider a great side ,as for the Boks always considered the underdogs that's exactly where we want to be,as we were before the last world cup watch this space world cup final Boks Vs France ,and prediction Boks win
Ha ha love this article, Ireland and France will choke like they always do in the World Cup, Ireland has played a series in South Africa or France a series in South Africa in a couple of years
Oh dear... Ireland and France have peaked too soon. I suspect that next year we'll have another South Africa v England WC final. All Blacks wont make it past the quarter finals.
A wonderful article, and cannot but agree with Ben here about SA. They really are a poor side now, and will need to improve dramatically. Maybe a few matches against Tonga and Namibia needed to get confidence back.
Skipping 2020 and then only playing Lions and the sides they played last year is no way to build a better win/loss ratio.
France or Ireland don’t have the depth SA has, once off tests at the end of the year don’t really say much. World Cup is a year away. We know how France and Ireland choke.
France are the best side in the world, in my opinion because they have a higher ceiling and are less reliant on one player.
There is very little doubt that Ireland have some great players and currently have a system and coaching team that extract every last drop of performance out of this Irish squad. But without Sexton, they don't have the same control. They have 2 controlling 9s but back up 10s just wouldn't impact the game to the same degree as sexton does.
I feel with the French, they have a number of top quality players in most positions. They don't play with quite the same continuity as the Irish but they still have room for growth because most of their key players are young.
We are talking small margins, but Ireland have been figured out before because they play a simpler game plan. A team like South Africa could match them with physicality and the it becomes a toss of a coin.
French have more march winners able to be the difference in ways that are not as stifle or stop.
On the contrary if they lose antoine du pointe they are screwed also France haven't shown they can travel and win I expect their game in Dublin to be a marker. I also think they showed their overwhelm overcharge tactics a year too early.
The most petty "journalist" out there, mate it just comes across as sad, maybe you need a nap or a hug.
Doesn't it? He's repeatedly repackaged essentially the same article (SA are overrated) and refurgitates it every few weeks. It's not even about whether he's right or wrong (some of the points he makes are indisputable) - it's the fact that he's obsessed with it. It's almost pathological.