LONG READ Why England should host 'magnetic' Test series against southern hemisphere giants

South Africa and New Zealand’s intention to resurrect bilateral Test series is striking in itself but beyond the self-anointed ‘Greatest Rivalry in Rugby’ it should cause others – namely England – to sit up and take notice.

The Springboks and the All Blacks have identified an area of magnetic appeal and where they are leading, the RFU should follow.

Test series have a spice and allure all of their own. If there is an opportunity for England to jump on the bandwagon, they should be all-in.

Unlike in one-off Tests, there is a narrative created from one match to the next in a Test series which gives supporters – and players – something extra to grab hold of, as England captain Jamie George observed in New Zealand in the summer.

“I love Test series, playing teams back-to-back,” he said. “It’s fascinating how you need to be tactically across those games. You set people up with plans in game one that you then might try to manipulate differently in game two. That’s something I’ve always loved.”

For Clive Woodward, in his first year as England coach, the chance to go twice at the All Blacks was an invaluable learning exercise.

That tour to New Zealand had been billed as the end of the road for the genre as far as England were concerned.  The looming dawn of the 12-team global Nations Championship, when Steve Borthwick’s side will instead face different opponents on their travels, had seen to that.

But South Africa and New Zealand’s sleight of hand in declaring their desire to stage four-yearly tours between the two countries has shown that need not be the case.

England have one window where it might be possible to follow suit. The summer is out of bounds. Two years out of four, the Nations Championship will be taking place while the years in between will be filled by Lions tours and World Cup preparation camps.

Three of the four autumn international slots would be filled by the World Cup and the Nations Championship as well.

But next autumn – and every autumn in a Lions tour year – there will be a gap.

So instead of running through the card of usual suspects at Twickenham, the RFU should explore the possibility of staging a series on home soil.

The last time something vaguely similar happened – against New Zealand in 1997 – it was fabulous.

In those early stumbling days of professionalism, with no fixed rules or conventions, it was a case of grab what you could. So the RFU duly collared the most glamorous side in the game for a double bill which proved captivating.

The high-water mark, though, was Ireland in South Africa. As a one-off the Ciaran Frawley show in Durban would have been stunning but with a series on the line it was even more dramatic.

The RFU took the first Test on the road to Old Trafford which made Twickenham feel like a library when Richard Cockerill went nose to nose with Norm Hewitt during the haka. The All Blacks prevailed 25-8 and Martin Johnson was banned by the RFU for a game for a cheap shot on Justin Marshall.

A fortnight later – after New Zealand had crushed Wales at Wembley in between – Johnson was back as the two sides fought out a classic 26-26 draw at Not-Yet-Allianz-Stadium.

England had the All Blacks on the ropes at 23-9 up but it took a late penalty from Paul Grayson to salvage what was then the first draw between the sides in the end.

For Clive Woodward, in his first year as England coach, the chance to go twice at the All Blacks was an invaluable learning exercise. For the 130,000 who saw the two matches it was a series to remember.

They tend to be. With scores to settle from one game to the next and the emotional rebound from a defeat, rivers run that bit deeper in a series.

Take this summer. Each one had a thread worth following.

If Wales in Australia felt like two men with no sense of direction trying to fight their way out of a forest at night without a phone or compass then there was still an element of jeopardy about it right up until the final minutes in Melbourne.

Likewise, England, emboldened by their first Test near miss, took the All Blacks to the wire at Eden Park only to fall agonisingly short.

The high-water mark, though, was Ireland in South Africa. As a one-off the Ciaran Frawley show in Durban would have been stunning but with a series on the line it was even more dramatic.

For the ultimate example of that, see the Lions. The tours are special in themselves but the three internationals make for an epic climax. The themes which develop between Tests – the selection conundrums, the controversies and all the rest of the moving parts – exert an irresistible pull.

South Africa last time around during Covid was damaged by the absence of fans but the New Zealand series four years beforehand was like a tornado pulling in everything around it as it stormed from the North Island to the South Island and back again.

It would be tough going for England to emulate that if they head down the home series route but going back-to-back against one of the southern hemisphere big three would be a big deal.

Whoever the RFU might entice it would be sure to cause a fuss. An extra Test against England for one of the big hitters would mean one of the other home unions would miss out.

The All Blacks would traditionally be first choice opponents but South Africa, as back-to-back world champions, are arguably the bigger draw now. If neither of those options was available then Australia – like Argentina, left out in the cold by the Boks-Blacks alliance – could be an option.

The traditional sporting rivalry with the two countries would give that series some appeal. Of course it would need Australia to be competitive but the win in Argentina last weekend hinted the Wallabies may be on the up under Joe Schmidt.

If we are looking at 2025, the fact the Lions will just have played out a series against Australia next summer would be a negative for some but the timing is actually a positive. The spotlight on the Lions tour would have served to introduce the Wallabies cast to a wider audience.

Whoever the RFU might entice it would be sure to cause a fuss. An extra Test against England for one of the big hitters would mean one of the other home unions would miss out. But fusses die down and by not playing one of the other nations next autumn, it would free them up for a possible series against someone else.

So an altruistic move by England too? That would be a stretch – no-one should pretend this would be about anything other than looking after number one – but in this case that doesn’t make it wrong.