International Rugby returns with a bang this weekend as the much talked about Lions Tour to Australia kicks off. Albeit it’s in Dublin as the Lions sharpen their teeth on some prime Argentinian beef as they take on the Pumas. These initial one off Tests before the Lions arrive in their country of destination are always entertaining affairs, and this Friday’s encounter should be no different. So while we have a look at that, in light of Super Rugby and this weekend’s Super Rugby Final which sees no Australian teams represented we ask the question of how competitive or one sided this Lions Tour may end up becoming.
However, there is still some unfinished business at club level as Super Rugby sees its Grand Final in an all New Zealand affair between the ever present Crusaders and title favorites the Chiefs. Finally, over in France, the TOP 14 brings us a very tasty Semi-Final ahead of what should be a classic Final.
As a result, there are not a huge number of games this weekend, but plenty of quality, and as you all know, our mantra is quality, not quantity. So, without any further ado, let’s get stuck into what’s got us chattering over our pints ahead of this weekend.
Will the Lions pack up all the Wallabies in their old kit bag, or will Australia send them homewards to think again?
Like we say excuse the reference to an Irish folk song and the Scottish rugby anthem, both of which have nothing to do with either of the two teams entering the field of combat over the next 6 weeks. However, it does sum up some of the perceptions swirling around this Lions Tour. Some have said that Australia, in their current shape, will crumple under the assembled might of the best of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Others feel that Australian rugby is at a crucial fork in the road after a few nightmare years in the wilderness, and is about to turn a corner that will see them become the force that has featured in four World Cup Finals, and which saw them lift the Webb Ellis trophy twice.
We’re definitely in the latter camp and feel that although the Lions are likely to win the series we doubt it will be a clean sweep and that Australia will be infinitely more competitive across the three Tests than people are giving them credit for. We’ve always had a soft spot for the Wallabies, and some of our fondest memories are of the great Wallaby teams of the Nineties and early 2000s. They were teams that employed fantastic running rugby and were able to create an inventive and adventurous style of play that the French would have been proud of. If it was risky and a genuine throw of the dice then you could count on Australia to have a crack at it, and often it would result in some of the best tries the modern game has ever seen. In short, the French had their flair, but Australia had their razzle dazzle.
In recent, times though and especially since the advent of professionalism and competing sporting interests in Australia, rugby and the Wallabies have struggled to keep up with the ever changing international game. The 2023 World Cup Pool stage exit was probably the lowest point in the Wallabies’ illustrious history. Since then, they have been slowly rebuilding while the game itself at a domestic level has taken a long, hard look at itself. The answers are still a long way off, but since former Ireland Coach Joe Schmidt took temporary control of the Wallaby Coaching Box till mid 2026, there has been a definite uptick in Australia’s fortunes with the highlight being the Wallabies win over England at Twickenham last November. Even in Super Rugby, where Australia’s representation has been reduced from five to four teams, there has been an improvement in results as there is a more effective spread of the country’s limited player base.
Joe Schmidt will have an intimate knowledge of many of the Lions arriving on Australian shores next week, especially as he coached and played against many of them during his time as Ireland Coach. Furthermore, Lions Coach Andy Farrell was Schmidt’s right-hand man during his time with Ireland. Australia on paper simply couldn’t be any better prepared for the challenge they are about to face than they are with Schmidt running the show.
Nevertheless, consistency is simply not a Wallaby trait as yet, despite Schmidt’s brilliance and meticulous attention to detail. Some have argued that his highly structured approach to the game and natural aversion to risk taking has at times stifled creativity in the Wallabies, and the same concern was raised during his time with Ireland. As mentioned above, in our opinion, the freedom of being able to play fast adventurous rugby is something intrinsic to the Wallabies’ DNA. Australian sides reveled in unstructured play and were often able to create spectacular opportunities from it. However, as entertaining as it was to watch, it often backfired on them in the most spectacular fashion. Throw in costly lapses in discipline, and all too often, Wallaby sides found themselves playing with one hand tied behind their backs, despite some breathtaking talent on display at times.
The key for Schmidt on this Tour, and to help Australia prepare for their own World Cup in just over two years time, will be to allow Australia to embrace a certain freedom in how they play the game when opportunities present themselves, but at the same time nail down the basics and structures necessary to grind out the wins from one game to the next when needed. In short, cherish the flair and spectacular attacking rugby that was once Australia’s bread and butter, but at the same time recognise that it’s consistency in the nuts and bolts of the game that wins Test matches.
There is plenty of work still to do, and Australian supporters will once again be saddened that as preparation for this Tour and beyond, no Australian teams were able to make the Super Rugby Final. It’s a rather depressing statistic that the last time an Australian team competed in a Super Rugby Grand Final was 2014. 11 years is a long time to go without an appearance on the Southern Hemisphere’s club showpiece big stage. Nevertheless, Australian sides were infinitely more competitive this season than in years gone by, and there is the core, spread across the four franchise teams, of a very good Wallaby side.
For that reason, we feel that this Lions Tour is likely to be a lot more competitive than many were giving it credit for last year. Post the 2023 World Cup, many fans were suggesting that the Lions tour somewhere else other than Australia, and at times, it was hard to deny that such arguments had some degree of reason in them. However, we feel this is no longer the case. This should be a highly entertaining and, at times, closely fought Tour. Some of the games leading up to the three Tests against the Wallabies may well simply end up being dead rubbers, but the Tests themselves should be competitive and we are convinced that the Wallabies will sneak at least one win, though clinching the series may still be a bridge too far in their current state and given the calibre of the assembled Lions squad.
Either way, we are genuinely excited at the prospect of this Tour and the three Tests on offer. Provided the first Test isn’t a whitewash by the Lions, this should be a very closely contested series, and the Wallabies are likely to improve with every outing. Obviously, to keep the series alive, we need it to be drawn after the first Two Tests, and if it is, we should be set up for an absolute cracker of a Third Test decider. The Lions will play for the history and pride of the jersey and the privilege of being one of that special band chosen to wear it. The Wallabies will play to prove a point and that they are back at the top table of Test rugby just in time for the World Cup in their own backyard in two years’ time. Australia know that what happens over the course of the next six weeks will have a huge bearing on the future of rugby in the country and as a result there is EVERYTHING to play for – so strap yourselves in!!!
Big Cats set to Rumble at the Aviva!!
This weekend’s official start of the Lions series is probably one of the most eagerly anticipated in the legendary touring team’s illustrious 137-year history. Although the focus of this Lions Tour is all about competition in Australia, the fact that they will get to sharpen their claws in their first time together against a fellow heavyweight feline namesake, Argentina’s Pumas, is a rare treat. There will be plenty of pride and passion in both cats’ camps.
For Argentina, the honor of getting to open the 2025 edition of the Lions account is huge. A team renown for wearing their hearts on their collective sleeves in a tidal wave of emotion and passion in the jersey needs no further introduction. Furthermore, as Argentina currently sits fifth on the World Rankings table, there is growing support for the Lions to eventually include the Pumas home as a destination for a future Tour. If you ask us, we think that it’s long overdue, and a Lions series in Argentina is a worthy endeavor. Consequently, Argentina will be keen to lay down a marker this weekend that such a tour becomes less a question of if and more a question of when.
As for the Lions and Andy Farrell, the touring team’s first new Coach since Warren Gatland assumed the responsibility back in 2009, they will want to use this weekend’s match as an opportunity to fine tune how the Lions will approach this tour before they head for the airport in Dublin and the long flight to the first leg of their Australian adventure in Perth. The squad he has chosen for Friday’s match has a very English feel to it, but there is still a healthy sprinkling of Scottish and Irish interests. Of big interest will be England fly half Finn Smith’s contest with Argentina’s Tomas Albornoz. Albornoz, who has been outstanding for Italian club side Benetton, will be an excellent test of Finn Smith’s composure under pressure as the Puma number 10 has a superb set of skills. Meanwhile, England’s Marcus Smith will continue to have to get his head around life in the fullback jersey as both his England boss Steve Borthwick and Andy Farrell seem to think that is where he’s most useful, even though he prefers the 10 jersey. He’ll be up against Argentina’s Santiago Carreras, who arguably is more comfortable with switching from 10 to 15 at both club and international level.
However, the real meat and potatoes of any clash with Argentina are the forward pack battles. In that department, expect the Lions to have the edge at scrum time, but Argentina to cause them all sorts of headaches in the rucks and the loose. That Pumas back row of Pablo Matera, Juan Martin Gonzalez and Joaquin Oviedo is the stuff of every Lions Cub’s worst nightmares, despite the prodigous talents of Wales’ Jac Morgan and England’s seasoned Test warriors Ben Earl and Tom Curry. The Lions second row of Ireland’s Tadgh Beirne and England and Lions Captain Maro Itoje however is an absolute powerhouse and provides its own wrecking ball potential, especially at lineout time as England Hooker Luke Cowan Dickie will have two of the best targets in the modern game to aim at.
In short, these are two exceptionally capable teams with everything to prove. The Pumas will have an eye to the future and a claim to a stake in the Lions’ touring plans beyond the next World Cup. Meanwhile, the Lions will want to set out their stall early and test some combinations against a fearsome opponent. Coach Andy Farrell will also be keen to see how many of his English and Scottish charges fare under his guidance as opposed to his Irish contingent, whom he is much more familiar with. You won’t want to miss this, and for us, this is the most important and interesting fixture of the Lions Tour ahead of that all-important first Test against the Wallabies on July 19th.
British and Irish Lions vs Argentina – Friday, June 20th – 3:00 PM (Eastern) – DAZN, Premier Sports Asia and Stan Sport Australia (live and on demand)
Super Rugby’s Grand Final seemed to have a ring of inevitability to it right from the get go!
Any surprises that it’s an all New Zealand Grand Final in Super Rugby? Not in this corner, at least – despite the fact that we all really hoped that this year would be different, especially with a Lions Tour arriving imminently on Australian shores. Of the 27 Grand Finals held since the competition’s inception in 1996 (we’re not including the strictly domestic versions in 2021 due to COVID), only 8 have been all Kiwi affairs. However, since 2022 and the competition essentially being restructured to a Trans Tasman affair, all 4 Finals have featured only New Zealand teams.
Be that as it may, the two best teams in the competition meet on Saturday in Christchurch, and they have fully earned the right to be there after four months of scintillating rugby. Put aside the qualifying format that still makes little if any sense, the two teams that will trot out onto the pitch at Apollo Projects Stadium are ones that right from the start of the season were always tipped to be the Finalists. Yes, there were some brave challenges from the Hurricanes, Reds, Brumbies and Blues, but ultimately, the Crusaders and Chiefs have been the dominant forces all season long. The Crusaders record in Super Rugby Finals is rather daunting, to say the least. They’ve played in 16 of the 27 held since 1996 and won 12 of them, with five of them being back to back wins in consecutive years. They are to Championship Rugby what Real Madrid are to Champions League Football.
The Chiefs, on the other hand, do not have quite the same pedigree but have been bridesmaids in waiting 3 times and hoisted the cherished cup twice in 2012 and 2013. However, there is no denying that the 2025 edition of the Chiefs is going to take some beating. Although they have had their odd wobble this season most notably in the qualifying round two weekends ago against the Blues, this team rarely makes costly mistakes. As a unit they look exceptionally well drilled, and when you have the talents of the likes of fly half Damian Mackenzie, Hooker Samisoni Taukei’aho, second rower Tupou Vaa’i, back rower Wallace Sititi and a back line comprised of fullback Shaun Stevenson and winger Emoni Narawa the sky is essentially the limit. There are very few statistics from this year’s competition that the Chiefs haven’t dominated either as a team or as individual players.
If you simply look at the numbers, then it’s almost impossible to split the two sides, although the Chiefs do have a slight advantage over the Crusaders and on paper they come across as the better team. However, it’s the Crusaders we’re talking about here who simply have a winning culture coursing through their veins since this competition’s inception. There is a pedigree and sense of “we know how to do this” even if they may not be the most fancied team on the park – it’s simply part of the Crusaders’ DNA. The belief amongst their fans will be there for the full eighty minutes the second referee Angus Gardner blows his whistle to get proceedings underway. The Crusaders’ ability to get inside their opponents’ heads when they are playing on home ground is second to none and will paper over any deficiencies on the day. The minute that belief in themselves takes hold and their opponents start to buckle under the pressure, then expect to see the men in the famous red jersey take the game by the scruff of the neck and never let go, egged on by their devoted fans in the stands.
Don’t get us wrong, the Chiefs are an absolutely outstanding team, and we genuinely feel that they have the edge Saturday, provided they can just silence the Christchurch crowd and focus on the task at hand. However, it’s a tall order, and the Crusaders’ track record really does speak volumes about what they are capable of. The Crusaders may not be the most flash of the two teams, but perhaps more so than the Chiefs they know how to grind out wins, even if they are not particularly pretty as a rugby spectacle.
As a backdrop to the incoming French tour to New Zealand, Saturday’s contest will be a fascinating clash of styles and tell us much about what to expect from the 2025 edition of the All Blacks who kick off their season in two weeks time. It may be essentially a local derby in an international competition, but just like France’s TOP 14, you won’t want to miss it!
Crusaders vs Chiefs – Saturday, June 21st – 3:05 AM (Eastern) – TSN+, Premier Sports Asia, FLO Rugby and Stan Sport Australia (live and on demand)
Full throttle French Flair is about to be unleashed!
Much like the English Premiership, France’s TOP 14 is not something we cover regularly as it is a purely domestic competition. However, as club competitions go, we’d argue like many others that it is probably the gold standard. Consequently, as it enters its final two rounds this weekend, it deserves our attention and probably yours if you’re a true rugby fan.
While there are two Semi-Finals being played this weekend, the first between Toulouse and Bayonne is, for the most part, a foregone conclusion. Toulouse have a record number of 23 titles to their name, and beating the Men from the Southwest on their home ground come Finals time is a task many find it almost impossible to achieve. Having visited Toulouse during the last World Cup, we can understand why – the place is steeped in rugby culture and passion for the game.
Therefore of the two Semi-Finals taking place this weekend, the one that has caught our eye, is the one between European and French heavyweights Toulon and the newest and brightest French star on the block Bordeaux. Bordeaux were crowned European Champions this year and left us dazzled with a blinding display of attacking rugby backed up by a sound grasp and execution of the core basics of the modern club game. Toulon have the pedigree to go the distance, but their track record this season has highlighted some costly lapses of concentration and execution. In short, on their day, Toulon can beat anyone but have an annoying habit of taking their eye off the ball at crunch moments.
Bordeaux, on the other hand, outperformed both Toulon and Toulouse in Europe this season and in the TOP 14 have been worthy runners up all season to Toulouse. It’s also interesting to note that Bordeaux have beaten Toulouse the three times the two sides have met this season, while in the two times they’ve clashed with Toulon, it sits at one apiece. Meanwhile, Toulon simply can not get the measure of Toulouse this season, leading one to the belief that should they make it to the Final next weekend, it’s likely to be a one-sided affair.
Consequently, if you want to see a spectacular Final full of fizzing rugby, then you would want a Bordeaux/Toulouse lineup for next Friday. As a result, we’ll be completely honest and admit we’ll be chugging Bordeaux this Saturday afternoon as opposed to Cotes de Provence. As the new darlings of French rugby the next two weekends are a chance for Bordeaux to shine and start to create a new rugby dynasty in a country that, like its wine, knows how to turn out a vintage brand of rugby that can be enjoyed and savoured around the globe!
Bordeaux vs Toulon – Saturday, June 21st – 3:00 PM (Eastern) – FLO Rugby (live and on demand)
Well, that’s it for this week, folks, as some genuine rugby entertainment lies in store for you. So get out the barbis/braais/bbqs and your libations of choice and let those Lions Roar!!!
The Lineout 