There are so many things to look forward to – where do we begin? In the past, the year following a World Cup has often tended to be a bit of a damp squib in rugby terms. However, we have a hunch that 2024 is definitely going to break that mold. We all have our personal preferences, but this year, International Rugby should continue to shine and pick up on the momentum created by the World Cup.
We’re already seeing it in a Champions Cup that barring some disgruntlement about selection decisions by certain teams is setting us up for what should be a truly stellar set of knockout rounds. The end of the Pool stages in that competition nicely segues us into the first proper dosage of International Test Rugby with the kickoff of the Six Nations in February. That’s followed by our first glimpse of what should be a truly riveting year in International Women’s Rugby as the Women’s Six Nations gets underway, followed by the Pacific Four series and culminating in the WXV.
Then there’s the fascinating and potentially last of its kind tour by Ireland of South Africa in the summer. With the new World Rugby enforced International Calendar set to be part of the Test Rugby landscape from 2025 onwards, traditional summer and fall tours are likely to become a relic of the past with the exception of Lions Tours. Consequently a chance to see South Africa as World Champions host one of the World’s best sides in the shape of Ireland and all their travelling supporters will be a treat to savor before the dawn of World Rugby’s supposedly bright new future. Then to finish off the summer we have the mouthwatering prospect of two reenactments of the World Cup final to be played in South Africa as the Springboks host the All Blacks in two back to back matches as part of this year’s Rugby Championship.
If you’re not excited about this, then you may want to check your rugby pulse, as we and many others certainly are. But let’s delve into why we’re so excited and why our pints are already starting to froth before a whistle has even been blown.
European Champions Cup – things are going to get spicy
The action that kicks off this weekend in the last two rounds of the Pool stages in the Champions Cup is going to be a fascinating precursor to the Six Nations next month. The continued frisson of two South African teams in the mix adds increased interest to the whole adventure, and despite its ongoing clunky format, it has provided us with some mesmerising matches in the opening two rounds, with the final two weekends of Pool play suddenly very high stakes affairs for many of the teams.
For French interests, there have certainly been some surprises. Prior to the tournament, we’d tipped Racing 92 and La Rochelle to be the teams to beat from a French perspective. Racing 92 are dominating the TOP 14, and we thought it would be a natural progression to translate that form into Champions Cup success. However, it would seem that domestic form and European form, at least in the case of Racing 92, are chalk and cheese. The Parisians, even with the addition of Springbok superstar and World Cup winning Captain Siya Kolisi, have genuinely struggled in the opening two rounds and now have the unenviable task of travelling to Bath to take on an English outfit that just gets better and better. Meanwhile defending Champions La Rochelle have struggled to really make an impact and their decidedly middle of the road form in the TOP 14 shows no sign of abating in the Champions Cup with a tough visit from this year’s English surprise package Leicester lying in wait this weekend.
However, all is not lost for French fans as Bordeaux, now boasting the extraordinary talents of winger extraordinaire Damian Penaud, look to translate their rampaging form in the TOP 14 into European success, and should feel more than a little optimistic about advancing their cause this weekend when they host English outfit Saracens. All bets are on that the men from the Southwest of France are going to go deep into this tournament. Meanwhile, Toulouse are continuing to find their feet in both the TOP 14 and with it the right to assert their impeccable European Champions Cup credentials. The most successful French team in the history of European club competition face a daunting trip to Belfast to take on an Ulster outfit that is rather competitive, to say the least. Nevertheless, expect a late and ominous charge from both these French outfits over the next two weekends.
Meanwhile, it’s English sides that are turning the most heads in the competition so far. Despite all the uncertainties swirling around the English Premiership, it certainly hasn’t hindered a few of its clubs’ European aspirations. Bath are so far proving to be the handful we expected them to be guided by the wily boot and mind of their leading playmaker and Scottish maestro Finn Russell. They should have a comfortable home win over a struggling Racing 92 this weekend, but their final round is a very daunting trip to Toulouse. However, it’s Northampton who have so far taken everyone by storm, knocking off both Glasgow and Toulon. All they have in their way to prevent them winning their Pool is a relatively straightforward home fixture against Bayonne, and then a trip to Thomond Park to deal with a Munster side who by that stage may be completely out of the running for European glory anyway.
While Northampton and Bath may be the English front runners, Exeter and Leicester are keen to make the point that they are very much in the mix as well. Both teams sit second in each of their groups. However, the road to the knockouts is much more daunting for the Men from England’s Midlands. This weekend’s round sees Leicester with the unenviable task of a trip to defending champions La Rochelle. Although the Frenchmen are nowhere near the form they showed last year in either the TOP 14 or the Champions Cup, the thought of them getting knocked out of the hunt this weekend on home ground is something they will not entertain lightly. Leicester have to follow that up with entertaining European and Irish superstars Leinster, admittedly on their hallowed home ground of Welford Road. Meanwhile, Exeter have a slightly easier route to the knockouts. They will take comfort in the fact that they are the hosts when they meet Glasgow this weekend, and if they stick to form, then a close tussle should go their way. Their final Pool game sees them travel to Paris for a date with Stade Francais. This will be no pushover as although the Frenchmen are struggling to register a pulse so far in Europe, in the TOP 14, they are serious title contenders. Could a late run of form by the Frenchmen derail Exeter’s hopes? Either way, these four games could prove to be some of the most enthralling of the entire Pool stages.
In Ireland, we have to confess to being more than a little perplexed, as so far there are only two sides in it, Leinster and Ulster. Connacht are so far nowhere to be seen while a run of injuries is seriously hampering Munster’s campaign and their remaining fixtures look more than a little daunting. Nevertheless, Irish interests will, as they always are, be strongly represented deep into the campaign by the Leinster juggernaut. Leinster are comfortably at the top of the log in the URC and have so far looked the business in Europe. Their remaining Pool fixtures are relatively lightweight with a home game against Stade Francais and then a road trip to England to take on tournament hopefuls Leicester. Nevertheless, given their pedigree, this process should be relatively straightforward. For Ulster, however, the process is not so simple. First up is a visit from European giants Toulouse this weekend followed by a difficult road trip to Twickenham’s Stoop to take on Harlequins, with the Englishmen also very much still in the hunt for one of those last knockout spots.
We also have the sole representatives from Scotland and Wales, Glasgow and Cardiff. While Cardiff’s chances look done and dusted their truly remarkable fight against one of the tournament favourites last month, Bath should and could give their ardent supporters a glimmer of hope. Given the fact they face Harlequins at home this weekend and a struggling Racing 92 in Paris in the final round, is there an outside chance that Wales may have a representative in the knockout rounds of European rugby? Unlikely but not impossible. As for Glasgow while they may look the business in the URC their European form is fair to middling at best, and with two extremely tough fixtures left against Exeter and Toulon, we fear that Europe may be a bridge too far for the Scotsmen this year.
If your interests lie with the two newest kids on the block the South African outfits, the Stormers and the Bulls, then you may be feeling just a little uncertain this year. However, so far, if any of these two teams are going to make it through to the knockouts, then the Bulls would appear to be at the front of the queue. Despite their last game on the road being a loss to Lyon, it was only by one point, and they gave Saracens a fairly uncomfortable lesson in Pretoria at the beginning of the Championship. Given their form against Lyon on the road, we fancy their chances on this weekend’s road trip to Bristol, followed up a tough home game back on the Highveld against French hotshots Bordeaux. The Stormers have not quite had the start to their campaign they would have liked. They struggled in their opener away to Leicester but did manage a home win over defending Champions La Rochelle. This weekend, sees them hosting English outfit Sale Sharks, a match which they should win on their home turf followed up by a trip to Paris and a struggling Stade Francais. The Stormers may be starting late out of the blocks but could finish strongly with a potentially easier route to one of those last knockout spots than the Bulls. Either way, it should make for some exciting late drama from a South African perspective.
Also, while we’re on the topic of European competition, we strongly recommend if you have a FLO Rugby subscription catching Georgia’s Black Lions‘ exploits in the Challenge Cup. The Georgian outfit is on fire after thumping the Scarlets at Parc Y Scarlets and giving Gloucester the fright of their lives in Tbilisi. Their remaining two games against Castres in France and then a rapturous return to the Georgian Capital to face Clermont will be daunting propositions, but the crowd scenes in Tbilisi if the Black Lions pulls off the unthinkable will be worth the cost of your FLO subscription for the month and then some.
So, like we say, this tournament looks set to be a very spicy yet tasty affair indeed and definitely one of our highlights of 2024. We’d argue it’s the best club rugby competition in the world, especially now that Super Rugby is for all intents and purposes simply an exhibition league for New Zealand teams with some scintillating cameos from the Fijian Drua.
The Freshest Post World Cup Six Nations in Years
We’ll be honest we usually don’t get all that excited about the Six Nations in a post World Cup year. Players who have been playing Test rugby flat out for a year usually arrive at the tournament exhausted and well off the pace. Despite the history, color, and tradition the tournament is steeped in, it often tends to be a slightly lackluster affair. Well, not so this year, we think.
First of all, there are a raft of retirements across the board of some of the biggest names of the decade. Ireland’s Johnny Sexton, Wales’ Alun Wyn Jones, Dan Biggar, and Justin Tipuric have all hung up their Test boots for good along with Scotland’s Stuart Hogg. Some players have decided to sit this one out, most notably France’s Antoine Dupont and England’s Owen Farrell, and injury clouds hang over a raft of other big names across the Six Nations player roster. There has been a Coaching change in Italy as well as a shuffling of the back room staff in a number of the participating countries.
Add into the mix a large group of new young players who didn’t go to the World Cup and are not suffering from that 12 month Test exhaustion factor, but are rapidly making a name for themselves in domestic and European competition. What you are likely to see are some of the youngest and freshest looking Six Nations squads we’ve seen in years. In short, it’s heady stuff and a golden opportunity for new talent to lay down some markers in this opening round of the next World Cup building cycle. We can’t wait and have a hunch it could be one of the most open and exciting Six Nations we’ve seen in years.
International Women’s Rugby – nonstop rugby excitement for 2024
We hate to use the term product when it comes to sport, but there is no denying that Women’s’ Rugby is one that is on an almost meteoric upward trajectory and we couldn’t be more thrilled. Ever since the World Cup at the end of 2022 in New Zealand, the Women’s game has grown exponentially in both terms of popularity and viewership and with it the finances to back and grow it. Record attendances keep getting broken, most notably the 58,498 spectators who poured into the grounds at Twickenham in April to watch an epic tussle between France and England for Six Nations glory, which the Red Roses edged in an absolute thriller. In short, Women’s Rugby is a rip-roaring success, and 2024 looks set to take it to another level.
There is so much to look forward to this year in Womens’ Rugby, and perhaps, best of all, so much of it is now receiving mainstream media and television coverage, even here in Canada. Hot on the heels of this year’s Men’s’ Six Nations the Women’s’ Edition kicks off on March 23rd for five weekends of furious action. Then come the end of June/July, it’s Pacific Four tournament time as Canada, the USA, New Zealand, and Australia face off, with one of the two Southern Hemisphere countries being the host. After that, it’s the return of the WXV at a venue yet to be determined. Last year, it was held in New Zealand, but how exciting would it be if it was held in Canada this year?
Women’s’ Rugby has developed a style all of its own in the last four years, and we liken it to a thrilling hybrid of sevens and 15s rugby which brings the relative strengths of both codes together in one exciting format . In short, we simply can’t get enough and with the added bonus that our own fabulous Canadian women still remain the fourth best team in the World by quite a margin to their nearest rivals Australia makes it even better. Furthermore, Canada remains only one point behind third placed France. The gap is closing rapidly and we’re hugely excited about what Sophie de Goede and her charges can do in the red jersey this year in preparation for what should be the most competitive Women’s’ World Cup in history in England next year.
Ireland’s Tour to South Africa – Rematch anyone?
After that monster clash in Paris in the Pool stages of the World Cup, it would be a bit of an understatement to say that South Africa and Ireland have some unfinished business, and what better opportunity to settle it than a two Test tour in South Africa in July. There will be other summer tours of note, such as Wales’ trip to Australia and England’s trip to the Land of the Long White Cloud, but none are as eagerly anticipated as the rematches taking place between Ireland and South Africa in Pretoria and Durban this July.
It will also be a good preparation for next year’s British and Irish Lions Coach, Ireland’s own Andy Farrell, who will be taking a sabbatical from his Irish duties starting in December this year till August 2025 to take charge of the Coaching duties for next year’s Lions tour to Australia.
The tour although short, will pose a myriad of challenges for Ireland, as in the space of a week they will have to adjust from playing rugby with all its physical and ball handling effects at altitude on the Highveld to the humid and slippery environment of a game by the Indian Ocean. The kicking and handling game you play in Pretoria is not the same game that will work for you in Durban. Farrell’s Ireland will need to be two different beasts while at the same time trying to figure out what box of tricks Springbok Coach Rassie Erasmus is likely to pull out of his seemingly bottomless hat.
In short, a quick and fascinating tour that will tell us much about the current number one and two sides in the World and where they are headed.
South Africa/New Zealand Rugby Championship Games – The Perfect mix of Grudge and Pride
Put aside all the talk about South Africa potentially joining the Six Nations at some point in the future, as for both these teams, these two annual fixtures loom larger in their national psyches than any others. South Africa and New Zealand regard matches against other nations as important stepping stones to world dominance, but ultimately measure the mettle of how good they really are on who emerges with the bragging rights when the Springboks meet the All Blacks. The mythology around these fixtures is as large as any Six Nations game, and the buildup will start in pubs and bars weeks in advance.
This year, we will see the resumption of the mini tour format used in the Rugby Championship, and it’s the Springboks who end up on the right side of the draw this year. New Zealand will need to make the long trek to South Africa for two back to back Tests in one of the hardest places to tour on the planet. The local crowds will be keen for their heroes to repeat their World Cup heroics as well as that memorable thrashing of their Kiwi foes at Twickenham last year. Ellis Park in Johannesburg and Cape Town will be the venues and expect both to be packed to the rafters. It will be loud, raucous, and just a little bit intimidating, to say the least, for both the All Blacks and their brave band of traveling supporters. Rassie Erasmus will be the man in the Coaching Box hot seat once more for the Springboks and expect the sparks to fly.
However, as daunting as all of this will be for New Zealand, fortune will certainly favor the bold. South African players will have been playing rugby almost nonstop, unlike their New Zealand counterparts, as the one negative by product of what is now an essentially twelve month season given South African clubs participation in European competition since leaving Super Rugby. New Zealand players are likely to be coming into this a lot fresher as well as like their Northern counterparts boasting plenty of new talent. Nevertheless, probably the biggest talking point of all will be new All Black Coach Scott “Razor” Robertson’s first big test of character against New Zealand’s most important rival.
It’s the Rugby Championship, but these two matches will undoubtedly be its biggest highlights. With ongoing Coaching uncertainty in Australia and similar issues in Argentina, the likelihood of these two countries posing much of a challenge with the possible exception of the Pumas at home is slim at this stage. In the case of the Wallabies, it may be heightened if Australian sides are once more put to the sword by their Kiwi counterparts and rising stars like Fijian Drua during the forthcoming Super Rugby season.
Anyway, to wrap things up, you get the gist of where we are going with this. What a fascinating and potentially exciting year we have ahead of us. So get out your Rugby calendars, book your time off, make the necessary excuses to family and friends and hunker down for what should be one of the best post World Cup years we’ve seen in a very long time. Stay safe, everyone, and Happy New Year!
The Lineout 