LONG READ Who fired and who flopped? A team-by-team review of the Autumn Nations Series

A thrilling Autumn Nations Series finished on Saturday with Ireland defeating a resurgent Australia in Dublin. The November window threw up storylines aplenty, as new stars shot to the fore, ferocious battles were waged and the balance of power shifted.

Here, RugbyPass assesses the autumn campaigns of the the top 12 teams and where they sit after their month’s exertions.

South Africa – 1st

Results: 32-15 v Scotland, 29-20 v England, 45-12 v Wales.

Summary: As good as it could’ve gone for the Boks. Rassie Erasmus used 52 players across 13 Tests in 2024 and added depth without jeopardising results. Every other nation should be scared of South Africa’s progress.

Question answered: With their rise and the relative fall of Ireland, South Africa are undeniably the best team in world rugby.

Question remaining: Who plays fly-half? Manie Libbok can unlock defences but struggles from the tee, Handre Pollard is a general but without Libbok’s flair, and Jordan Hendrikse is a young outsider who has started only twice, both against Wales and won both matches comfortably. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu shone during the Rugby Championship before a knee injury ruled him out of the autumn.

Ireland – 2nd

Results: 13-23 v New Zealand, 22-19 v Argentina, 52-17 v Fiji, 22-19 v Australia.

Summary: Can’t complain too much about three wins from four but this was clearly an Ireland team in transition. They stuttered in attack in a disjointed performance against New Zealand and never really got into the swing of things aside from their heavy victory over Fiji.

Question answered: The spine of the team looks solid and set for the next few years. James Ryan, Caelan Doris, Joe McCarthy, and Hugo Keenan are all under 30 and look like they’ll comfortably get to 100 caps. That’s very good news and not something many nations can claim.

Question remaining: Who is going to replace the old warriors? Bundee Aki, Jamison Gibson-Park, and Cian Healy will struggle to make the next World Cup. Healy has started just 10 games in the past three years, and played in 49. Who is going to take their shirts and when will they be trusted with that job?

New Zealand – 3rd

Results: 64-19 v Japan, 24-22 v England, 23-13 v Ireland, 29-30 v France, 29-11 v Italy.

Summary: Once again, another series which started with hope for the All Blacks’ opponents but still ended with four New Zealand wins from five and a feeling the potentially vulnerable team people talk about isn’t showing up on the pitch.

Question answered: Wallace Sititi is as good as people thought he would be. He played every minute of their autumn campaign and looked totally assured. Yet another discovery to add to that ridiculously talented back-row.

Question remaining: They’re not as dominant or frightening as the All Blacks of old yet they keep winning matches. That’s three in a row against England, won by a combined 10 points. Rumours of their demise might have been greatly exaggerated, or they are a team on the decline snatching victories by the force of their will.

France – 4th

Results: 52-12 v Japan, 30-29 v New Zealand, 37-23 v Argentina.

Summary: Two comfortable wins and one edge-of-the-seat effort in the game of the autumn against the All Blacks. Threw some new guys into the mix in the same way as South Africa and couldn’t ask for much more.

Question answered: France v New Zealand is the best fixture in rugby. Fabien Galthie’s policy is to rest all his front-liners for July tours, so let’s hope we can see two full-strength sides go at it when they face off next year for a three-Test series in New Zealand.

Question remaining: Can Louis Bielle-Biarrey maintain this level of play? If so, he’ll win the world player of the year award within the next two years. This autumn felt like a massive breakthrough for the winger from Grenoble.

Argentina – 5th

Results: 50-18 v Italy, 19-22 v Ireland, 23-37 v France.

Summary: Felt like a tired team at the end of a long season. Won comfortably against Italy, then came within a whisker of beating Ireland, and France was a bridge too far. Argentina remain inconsistent.

Question answered: Nobody should be surprised spending time in the sin bin is not a good tactic if you want to win. Argentina had five yellow cards in their three matches. That includes a first-minute yellow for Matias Moroni against Ireland, a period they lost 12-0. Argentina could not close that gap despite a good last hour.

Question remaining: How can Argentina become more consistent? This season they have beaten Australia, New Zealand and South Africa and lost to the same teams in the return fixture. Capable of exceptional days, but so rarely tie together consecutive wins. Filling the old French rugby stereotype that you never know which Argentina will show up.

Scotland – 6th

Results: 56-17 v Fiji, 15-32 v South Africa, 59-21 v Portugal, 27-13 v Australia.

Summary: A very smart set of fixtures which let their attack catch fire against underpowered Fiji and Portugal. However, it was their defence which kept them in the game against South Africa until the 64th minute and pulled them through victorious against Australia.

Question answered: Sione Tuipulotu is an absolute all-star. Hard to see how he can avoid a Lions starting jersey unless injured. He is electric with ball in hand and outrageously sturdy in defence. Scotland can build around their new captainu.

Question remaining: Scotland’s defence was brilliant this autumn just as it was in the Six Nations when they conceded the second-fewest points. It was also terrific against the USA, Canada, and Chile in the summer when those three opponents scored just 30 points combined. But, do we need to start worrying about their attack? They’ve scored more than 20 points just twice in the past seven matches against teams ranked in the top four. Week two of the Six Nations gives them a chance to set that record straight against Ireland.

England – 7th

Results: 22-24 v New Zealand, 37-42 v Australia, 20-29 v South Africa, 59-14 v Japan.

Summary: Pretty grim watching for the Twickenham faithful. New Zealand was the one that got away. Australia was the one that got away part two. What was most concerning though was how few people thought England even had a chance in their third match against South Africa. The result against Japan was a nice tonic for an otherwise difficult autumn.

⌚️Fin Smith spots the space and picks out the speedster on the wing, Tom Roebuck!

He takes his chance perfectly with a fend and a step, before dotting it between the posts! What a move!#Breitling @Breitling #DefiningMoment pic.twitter.com/NZJFqve40u

— Autumn Nations Series (@autumnnations) November 27, 2024

Question answered: Marcus Smith and Chandler Cunningham-South now look to have nailed down their respective positions. Sam Underhill also looked like he should be permanently brought in from the international cold with his two appearances. In a team where almost every other position is up for grabs, this stability is key.

Question remaining: Rugby is a 23-man game and England’s bench is a concern. Didn’t score a point after the hour mark against the All Blacks or South Africa and conceded two tries after 70 minutes against Australia. This felt like a bench designed to cling on rather than kill off the game.

Australia – 8th

Results: 42-37 v England, 52-20 v Wales, 13-27 v Scotland, 19-22 v Ireland.

Summary: The losses against Scotland and Ireland took the barest amount of gleam off what was otherwise an exceptional autumn. Expectations were low, but Joe Schmidt has worked his magic quicker than anybody thought he could. This feels like an exciting team finding their feet with the Lions tour on the horizon.

Question answered: This could’ve been a very worrying tour if Australia had failed to win and the momentum they created, to a point, in the Rugby Championship had vanished. But they come out of November with nothing but good vibes. Players such as Tom Wright, Max Jorgensen and Noah Lolesio are all making up for lost time after missing the World Cup last year and Rob Valetini has been sensational.

Question remaining: Australia came flying out of the traps with their attack in the first two matches scoring a combined 94 points. But that slowed to 32 points total in the final two games. We are still early in the new era of Aussie rugby, but can Schmidt create attacking shapes which will pose problems for the best defences?

Fiji – 9th

Results: 17-57 v Scotland, 24-19 v Wales, 33-19 v Spain, 17-52 v Ireland.

Summary: A very inconsistent team selection led to very inconsistent results. Caleb Muntz started every match, and was fabulous against Wales, but the rest of the team chopped and changed around him. Three players started in both centre spots and the rest of the backs were switched up from match to match. Despite this, they bagged a first ever victory in Cardiff and charged back to beat Spain.

⌚️ Fiji Rugby leaves it late, but a quality score from Josua Tuisova ensures their victory over Wales! 🇫🇯#breitling @Breitling #definingmoment pic.twitter.com/df3ZKoAUN9

— Autumn Nations Series (@autumnnations) November 10, 2024

Question answered: Fiji struggled to keep 15 players on the pitch. They had seven cards in four matches, including Semi Radradra’s 20-minute red card. This was the same issue they had in the World Cup where they only avoided a card against Australia in their 22-15 victory. Cards aren’t quite as brutal as they used to be, but they still rack up fatigue and definitely don’t help.

Question remaining: Fiji have shown they can beat elite opposition, reach World Cup quarter-finals and be within touching distance of the semis. Or at least, the best team they can assemble are capable of that. Fiji’s issue has been getting everyone together for long enough to create a coherent game plan. Can they change that?

Italy – 10th

Results: 18-50 v Argentina, 20-17 v Georgia, 11-29 v New Zealand.

Summary: A narrow victory over a resurgent Georgia salvaged something positive from an otherwise frustrating autumn. They looked nowhere near race pace in the opener against Argentina and that continued through the first 50 minutes against the Lelos. But things got better after that. Success against the All Blacks was holding them to well under 50 points.

ANDIAMOOOOOOO 💥

Tommaso Menoncello va in meta per l’Italia 🇮🇹

📺 Live on @rugbyontnt 🤝#AutumnNationsSeries #ITAvNZL pic.twitter.com/LkwQBEASLR

— Autumn Nations Series (@autumnnations) November 23, 2024

Question answered: This is a very settled Italian side where you could name at least 10 of the starting 15 each match. Ignacio Brex and Tommaso Menoncello are a formidable centre partnership and Paolo Garbisi and Ange Capuozzo have made the 10 and 15 shirts their own. Danilo Fischetti and Marco Riccioni anchor either side of the front-row and all those names, bar Brex, are young.

Question remaining: This was a team on a roll as they went undefeated in the final three matches of the Six Nations then comfortably beat Japan and Tonga in the summer, albeit with a surprise loss to Samoa thrown in there. The question is whether this autumn has slowed that momentum or totally reversed it.

Wales – 11th

Results: 19-24 v Fiji, 20-52 v Australia, 12-45 v South Africa.

Summary: A horror show of an autumn stretched Wales’ losing run to a dozen matches. There were bright spots for the first 30 minutes against Fiji but those were soon extinguished and the final two matches plunged fans into despondency.

Question answered: There are enough good players across this Welsh set-up to escape the slump. The challenge is getting them all fit and in form at the same time. The level of individual talent might have cloaked some of the bigger structural issues, but it’s also the way this team can claw themselves to victory and get the momentum rolling.

Question remaining: So many. Is Warren Gatland the right man for the job? Do the WRU need to cut a region? The dawning realisation of the scale of the task sparked frantic searching for instant fixes. Unfortunately, this might be a longer term rebuild job rather than something which can be mended within the year. Welsh rugby isn’t looking very rosy.

Georgia – 12th

Results: 17-20 v Italy, 22-7 v Tonga.

Summary: Just the two games, but very positive signs from a Georgian team trying to reinvent themselves from a forward-dominated mob of destroyers to an all-round squad with electric backs.

Question answered: A few years ago, it looked clear the gap between the bottom of the Six Nations and the top of the Rugby Europe Championship was widening. That’s definitely no longer the case. Georgia came within a whisker of beating Italy this time around and were successful back in 2022. They also of course beat Wales at the end of 2022 in Cardiff. Things are looking up

Question remaining: In Luka Matkava and Davit Niniashvili, Georgia have two stars of the game. They also have a rising crop of young guys such as Brive-based Georges Shvelidze, Provence forward Tornike Jalagonia, and Lyon back-row Beka Saginadze. Can the conveyor belt of talent keep producing at its current rate? Plus, is the desire to keep those young talents in Georgia or for them to develop in France?