The Women’s Rugby World Cup is finally underway and although there were a lot of one sided games and results this past weekend, it demonstrated that come the knockouts there are going to be some genuinely exciting and high skilled affairs on offer. The front runners this year, England, Canada, New Zealand and France all scored comfortable victories with healthy points hauls although France didn’t quite get the margin they would have perhaps have liked against Italy who we had expected to be a bit more competitive. What we did see however, and what should cause some tasty matchups even in the Pool stages were spirited performances from Australia, South Africa, Ireland and Scotland. Despite getting thumped by England, even the USA showed hints of promise and their matchup with Australia this weekend should be well worth watching.
As Canada’s Women had a veritable try fest in their 65-7 rout of a brave Fijian side, with fullback Julia Schell scoring a remarkable six tries in one match, Canada’s Men also got their Pacific Nations Cup campaign off to a brilliant start with a resounding win over the USA. It was a performance of exceptional quality and one that looked completely unrecognizable from the shambles usually on show for the last five years under now departed Coach Kingsley Jones. New Coach Steve Meehan has completely transformed this side in a mere three Tests. Friday’s performance in Calgary was the best we’ve seen from Canada’s Men by a country mile in over 5 years.
The Rugby Championship also provided plenty of spills and thrills with a complete reversal in fortunes for all four teams from the opening Round. Australia were unable to repeat their Ellis Park heroics against the Springboks, as South Africa reverted back to their core rugby DNA and used some tried and trusted proponents of it. They got an edgy win over Australia but it still lacked a certain degree of conviction to it. Meanwhile the Wallabies picked up some potentially alarming injuries which look set to have a significant impact on the remainder of their Rugby Championship campaign. Over in Argentina, the Pumas just as we expected them to do in front of the Buenos Aires faithful, came roaring back with a vengeance with a strong win over the All Blacks. The All Blacks a bit like the Springboks do not look their usual selves so far this season and transition is clearly an ongoing process for both teams and not without its teething problems.
So that’s what got us talking this weekend, and with the Women’s World Cup now in full swing there is plenty to look forward to in the weeks ahead, as Canada’s Men travel to Japan and the Rugby Championship now takes up residence in Australia and New Zealand.
Canada get their World Cup campaign off to a perfect start and turned plenty of heads in the process!
Obviously as a Canadian site, despite the fact that there was some splendid rugby played by some of the other participating teams, we’ll be looking at the demolition of Fiji by our own fantastic Women first and foremost. Don’t get us wrong, Fiji played with passion and committment and scored a superb try of their own, however the gulf between the top dogs in Women’s Rugby and the rest became blatantly apparent as the weekend wore on. It didn’t devalue the event in any shape or form as all 16 teams put in a maximum effort, it’s just that the standards of those efforts differ greatly from say the top eight in the World Rankings and the rest.
Consequently, as 14th ranked Fiji met Canada currently ranked number two in the World, there was always going to be a slightly lopsided nature to the contest. Canada came storming out of the blocks and got three tries within the first twenty minutes. Canada’s physicality, organisation, and dominance of the setpieces ensured that Fiji were unable to really make any kind headway against the Red machine. As we’ve seen all through the buildup, Canada’s kicking and passing game was crisp, precise, and accurate. The one area that perhaps surpised many of us was the fact that despite their dominance in the rucks and in the setpieces, Fiji were able to get slightly more turnovers than Canada.
It was the second half and Canada’s fullback Julia Schell running amok amongst the Fijian defenders, which was one of the highlights of the weekend. The six try wonder really had to be seen to be believed. As impressive as Schell was, her efforts were enabled by some fantastic play by Canada as a whole. Some of their passing was some of the best we’ve seen by this already rather gifted Canadian team. Canada were dominating the collisions and ensuring they kept possession in the rucks, allowing them to set up multiple phases and work their way down the field in a controlled and structured manner for the full eighty minutes. Once again, despite the attention naturally being all on Schell’s remarkable performance, it was another 80-minute display of 23 women all working together with real synergy.
Much talk has been made of England’s rolling maul and how difficult it is to defend against but Canada’s is also becoming increasingly effective, and given their success in defence we feel they may well be able to at least counter England’s super weapon and also employ it against the opposition. The game against Fiji was intensely physical at times, and some of the hits being put in would have made many in the Men’s game take a deep breath. It’s Canada’s ability to both withstand physical punishment as well as being able to dish out their own, which looks set to stand them in such good stead this tournament. Even fleet footed center Florence Symonds carries with her a physical prowess that makes her a dominant force in the middle of the park in both attack and defense.
In many ways, Fiji was the perfect team to play for Canada as an opening game to build up their intensity as the tournament progresses. Each of their games will now get progressively harder, but a start against a side like Fiji who, as evidenced by winger Kolora Lomani’s spectacular try, love to run the ball while at the same time bringing a real physical edge to certain aspects of the game was a great way to settle into a tournament that will hopefully see Canada in it to win it. With 100% success at lineout time and solid 90+ percentages in all their set piece work, Canada will feel well pleased with their first shift of World Cup duty.
As for their workons, there isn’t too much based on the evidence of this first game that we could find. Defensively, they still could be a tad sharper, though there are certainly no alarm bells ringing at this stage, and they will want to keep the penalties to a minimum, which, for the most part they did. Goal kicking could also improve, especially as some of their main competitors had much better days with the boot. Sophie de Goede did get some very challenging kicks but it’s an area Canada know they will need to keep working on as, at the business end of the tournament, they can’t afford to let easy points go begging.
The only real downside to the match was winger Fancy Bermudez’s departure from the field early in the second half, with what looked like a potentially troubling ankle injury, which hopefully can be rectified in time for what should arguably be Canada’s biggest game of the Pool stages in ten days time against Scotland. The Scots put in a dominant performance over Canada’s opponents this coming weekend, Wales, though expect this game to be a step up in terms of challenge and intensity compared to what Canada faced against Fiji.
Other than that, though, it’s full steam ahead Ladies as they are already being talked about as the dark horse that has the potential to spoil England’s party. However, there is a lot of rugby to play before that theory can be put to the Test. So, as we’re sure they’re doing, let’s all not get to carried away, and take one game at a time. Suffice to say from all of us here, a huge congratulations to all of our extraordinary Women who continue to make us proud every time they take to the field!
Canada vs Wales – Saturday, August 30th – 6:30 AM (Eastern) – TSN 4 and Stan Sport Australia (live and on demand)
England, as expected, look utterly dominant, but the other contenders for the silverware this year, France and New Zealand, also look like they mean business!
It’s hard not to see these three, along with Canada make the Final Four. However, as we mentioned above, there has been some great spirit and very positive rugby played by all the teams so far. Some of the scorelines may have been rather lopsided by the time of the final whistle, but there is no denying the “feel good” factor that was evident at every contest this weekend, both on and off the pitch. It’s a global festival of our beloved sport in the best of traditions and deserves to be celebrated as such, even if some of the competitors are clearly struggling to keep up. England, Canada, New Zealand, and France displayed why they are the front runners, but South Africa, Ireland, Scotland, and Australia also showed that they aren’t just there to make up the numbers. Even the USA and Italy who were most definitely on the wrong side of their respective scorelines were by no means complete pushovers for the full eighty minutes, and we’d argue that at times in the France/Italy game the scoreline was rather flattering to a French side who will need to up their game come the knockout stages.
England’s 69-7 romp over the Americans was not quite as emphatic as it seemed. The USA were giving as good as they got at times in the first half, and the floodgates really only started to open in the second half for England. The territory and possession stakes were relatively even, and in the physical collisions, the USA were not exactly being blown off the park and at times gave as good as they got. It was the Americans’ setpiece work and discipline that ultimately let them down, while defensively, they simply weren’t where they needed to be against a side like England. England’s rolling maul, as always, was a weapon of mass destruction but at times showed some cracks that Canada, New Zealand, and France will have observed with interest. Much like Canada, some of England’s defensive work could use a few tweaks, and their goalkicking could use a bit of tidying up. However, overall, their reputation as the juggernaut of the tournament remains largely intact after the first weekend of competition.
France got the job done against Italy, which was arguably the playoff spot for second place though with the way South Africa is playing (admittedly against a brave but utterly outclassed Brazil), one could argue that the encounter between Italy and the Springbok women could well be the decider of that debate this weekend. However, like much of what we saw in France’s only game between the Six Nations and this tournament, they are still warming up for the bigger challenges to come, though the Italy game was a useful wake up call. At times, France showed their potential, especially in the back line and the forwards. Marine Menager in the centers was a genuine threat. Their discipline wasn’t the best at times, but overall France will feel relieved that a potential banana skin in the shape of Italy was avoided, especially as France arrived in England rather luke warm.
New Zealand also looked like they are still looking to click into high gear despite a solid and rather emphatic win over Spain. The Spanish though fought to the bitter end, despite being outclassed in every aspect of the game by quite some margin, and their well earned try at the death was just reward and got everyone in York out of their seats and celebrating Spain’s never say die attitude. However, New Zealand will feel disappointed that they leaked a try at the end and the fact that they, unlike their main rivals, Canada and England, were unable to put a 60+ points margin on their opponent. Furthermore, their discipline was far from ideal at times, and overall, they simply didn’t look quite as flash as you would expect from a defending World Champion.
On the bright side flanker Jorja Miller’s opening two tries and her overall performance was utterly outstanding while her back row partner and number eight Liana Mikaele-Tu’u was voted Player of the Match, and expect these two to make plenty of headlines over the coming weeks. Meanwhile one of the most successful players in terms of try scoring success in the tournament’s history, Portia Woodman-Wickliffe was at it again scoring her 21st try at a Rugby World Cup, showing there is plenty of life left yet in the 34 year old 26 Test veteran.
England vs Samoa – Saturday, August 30th – 6:30 AM (Eastern) – TSN 4 and Stan Sport Australia (live and on demand)
New Zealand vs Japan – Sunday, August 31st – 8:42 AM (Eastern) – TSN 4 and Stan Sport Australia (live and on demand)
France vs Brazil – Sunday, August 31st – 11:27 AM (Eastern) – TSN 4 and Stan Sport Australia (live and on demand)
Night and Day! Canada’s emphatic win over the USA in their Pacific Nations Cup opener was an extraordinary departure from the abject shambles of the last five years and a truly exciting glimpse into a future we had sadly begun to think was beyond their reach!
What a game!!! When was the last time we said that about a Canadian Men’s Rugby performance? Certainly not in recent memory. The quality on display in Calgary on Friday night was such a quantum departure from the absolute rubbish that in general has been served up over the last five years by the Men’s programme, that it had us celebrating well into the wee hours. Finally, there is some belief and hope for Men’s rugby in this country. Much like their Women cohorts currently on World Cup duty in England, there was a sense of cohesion, unity, and sense of purpose in Friday’s efforts that has been sorely lacking up till now. It was heady stuff indeed and reaffirmed our belief that somewhere in amongst all the rubble of the past was a team desperately wanting to start a new life.
New Coach Steve Meehan in only three Tests in charge since the departure of the utterly woeful Kingsley Jones has transformed this team. They were accurate, disciplined, and made sound decisions for the full eighty minutes. Furthermore, they looked like they were loving every minute of it. It was a joy to watch and gave us a tantalising promise of what could come in the future. There was patience and structure to how they played, and the nuts and bolts of the game were executed well throughout the match. As we mentioned earlier, we had to constantly pinch ourselves to believe that we were watching a Canadian Men’s Rugby team, so good was the transformation.
There were plenty of players who stamped their authority on the match, but none more so than Tyler Ardron, who made a barnstorming return to the red jersey, scoring four of Canada’s five tries. He was an absolute talisman to the team, and his 80-minute powerhouse shift was a turbocharged rendition of what Canadian Men’s rugby can be when it gets it right. Ardron’s fellow veteran Evan Olmstead also had a massive game, and between them and Lucas Rumball, Canada benefitted from a core of experienced leadership and fed off it.
The Americans looked to have the ascendancy early on, and we’ll be honest that familiar sinking feeling started to set in, causing us to double our drinks orders. Then, at the end of the first quarter, Ardron and his cohorts literally seized the game by the scruff of the neck and, for the next hour, never looked back. In perhaps the best impression of Robert de Niro in Raging Bull meets Sylvester Stallone in Rambo that this country has ever seen, Ardron simply bulldozed his way through the American defences, egged on by a delerious Calgary crowd who were clearly having as much trouble as we were in believing what they were seeing but loving every minute of it.
There probably aren’t enough column inches to devote to how different Canada was in this match. Their discipline was so much better, and their set piece work was accurate and clinical. Their kicking and passing game was precise and had purpose. Their decision-making was sound, and their game management showed that they had a plan and knew how to execute it. It was a complete performance, and everyone seemed to know the script and what their roles in it were. In short, it was just so refreshing. Whether it’s solely down to new Coach Steve Meehan or the team themselves, we will never know, but whatever you are doing, gentleman, it’s working!
Canada now find themselves in Japan for their second and final Pool game against the Brave Blossoms before heading back across the Pacific to the US, where the tournament’s knockout stages will be conducted. Japan will be a tough ask, especially at home and a real test of whether or not the performance against the USA was simply smoke and mirrors and a flash in the pan, or that Canada have at long last genuinely turned a corner. If they have then their participation in the next World Cup is assured, and if they keep putting in performances like last Friday, they will be doing more than simply making up the numbers of an expanded tournament.
So from all of us here at the Lineout – well done, gentlemen, and you can not imagine how good it feels to finally be writing postively about Canadian Men’s Rugby and your efforts at long last! Keep up the excellent work!!!!
Japan vs Canada – Saturday, August 30th – 3:51 AM and again at 5:00 PM (Eastern) – TSN 4, TSN+, (TSN 5 for the 5PM showing) and Stan Sport Australia (live and on demand)
The Wallabies come just short of the mark in their Rugby Championship rematch with the Springboks and pick up some concerning injuries in the process, while South Africa go back to the basics to get the job done!
The old adage of sometimes it pays to stick to what you know, brought a much needed dividend for a Springbok side still sitting uneasily with that slap in the face defeat by the Wallabies at their Ellis Park cathedral. In the rematch in the Mother City, South Africa played basic Springbok rugby without trying to be too clever and got the desired result. Was it a Springbok performance for the ages? Far from it, but it got the job done. Will it be good enough to break the All Blacks’ Eden Park mantra in Auckland in a fortnight? We’d have to say the answer to that will be highly debatable until referee Karl Dickson blows the final whistle.
Like we said in the opener to this piece, we simply don’t find South Africa and New Zealand all that convincing at the moment. Much like in the Northern Hemisphere, Ireland is in transition, we’d argue that the All Blacks and Springboks are going through the same process and having similar teething problems with it. As much as they want change and need to develop new talent for the next World Cup, they appear to be struggling to weld together a cohesive side that can deliver consistent results. As a result and as evidenced by Saturday’s proceedings in Cape Town, the Springboks’ old guard put in the type of performance that was dramatically less innovative than what they’ve been trying up to now, but infinitely more effective all steered by some wise old and pragmatic heads.
Of these veterans, as he often always is, none was more important than the “Iceman” in the ten jersey Handre Pollard. There is no denying that he adds an element of calm and control, which ensures the Springboks are able to focus on the basics and utilize all the core skills that make up the South African rugby DNA. We read in many articles leading up to this game and with which we agreed, that South Africa was trying to play like New Zealand and the All Blacks were trying to play like the Springboks and it was tripping them both up.
South African Coach and World Cup maestro Rassie Erasmus is probably the game’s greatest innovator, but it was clear that since the World Cup South Africa have been finding it increasingly difficult to depart from their old ways and embrace a new style of play. However, after that Ellis Park defeat, they clearly needed a reset to get their confidence back, and that involved going back to their bread and butter rugby. Smash it up the middle, dominate the collisions and the aerial battles, and make the opposition do all the running and tire them out in the process, along with ensuring your setpiece work allows them no traction. In general, South Africa excelled at ticking all those boxes last weekend.
The problem was it simply didn’t look as all conquering as it has in the past. Other teams have figured South Africa out, and in the case of Australia last weekend in Johannesburg, they were able to work around it, as well as besting South Africa at their own game at times. Furthermore, the Wallabies clearly understood that South Africa was struggling with welding their traditional style and strengths to a new platform, and Australia found ways to exploit the loopholes it exposed.
It’s a rock and a hard place now for South Africa. They need to change, as what won them the last two World Cups simply won’t cut it this time around in Australia. Change is needed and with it plenty of new blood, while also integrating the veterans and their experience into this new way of doing things. In matches with so much riding on them in how the Springboks are perceived both at home and by their Test arena rivals, such as the upcoming two Test series with the All Blacks in New Zealand, South Africa will need to size up how much they balance Springbok version 2019/23.0 with that needed for version 2027.0 At the moment that experimentation is proving both inconsistent and at times problematic as at Ellis Park proved a fortnight ago.
As for Australia, we’d argue they are still on an upward trajectory despite last weekend’s loss. It was really only a very wobbly final ten minutes with some rather uncharacteristic errors and mistakes that denied them yet another spectacular comeback. Unfortunately in the process they have been dealt a bitter blow in the shape of injuries, most notably to fullback and without a doubt their best player in the backs, fullback Tom Wright who suffered and ACL injury in the second Test in Cape Town within the first five minutes, and which looks set to end his participation in the Wallaby jersey for the remainder of this season. Consequently, they await the arrival of a bruising Pumas squad with Australia’s casualty ward overflowing. However, from what we’ve seen of the replacements along with those in the original Rugby Championship squad that survived the South African Tour, there are plenty of reasons for continued optimism that the Wallabies’ resurgence is a permanent condition.
Plenty of food for thought for both sides, and none of it overly problematic as long as both sides can recognize what is and isn’t working for them in this very transitional period. The changes and adaptations are still a priority, but all within a balanced framework that clearly defines where each team needs to go and how to get there. The next two rounds of this Championship will tell us a great deal about both Australia and South Africa and what they are or aren’t building for the next World Cup, as the clock winds down and the time pressures mount.
The Pumas show that passion can also equal precision in a controlled but dominant performance over the All Blacks, which finally sees them get a home win against the New Zealanders in front of their adoring fans!
We have to confess to being faintly amused by the rugby media’s general consensus that New Zealand, especially after their first Rugby Championship win this season over the Pumas, would leave Argentina with a clean sweep. Sure, it was a leap of faith us sticking with the Pumas, but one thing is for certain with them – they will never be consistently bad. They may struggle with being consistently good, but especially under new Coach Felipe Contempomi, it’s rare to see them string two poor performances together. Admittedly, they couldn’t quite get the measure of a developmental England side this summer, but like most of the Southern Hemisphere teams were still finding their feet at the start of their season with many of their players also getting over the rigorous demands of a long European season.
With New Zealand not exactly firing on all cylinders at the moment, it was obvious that the Pumas sniffed an opportunity to get a cherished home win against their famous rivals. As mentioned in last week’s piece, Argentina increasingly have no problem beating the All Blacks on the road, but at home the emotion such encounters bring along with the expectations of their supporters all seemed to be a bit too much to handle. Well, not last weekend, as the Pumas emerged from the tunnel onto a pitch deafened by the Buenos Aires faithful, full of passion but governed by a clear focus and sense of purpose.
New Zealand stuck to what had worked so well for them in Cordoba, and within the first twenty minutes were two tries up to Argentina’s one penalty. A creeping sense of deja vu started to set in as we reached for a stiff drink. Then much like Canada against the USA the day before, on the half hour mark Argentina’s steadily growing dominance of the physical battles paid off and the oustanding back rower Juan Martin Gonzalez crossed the whitewash for the Pumas. From then on, it was all Argentina with their talismanic back rower Pablo Matera putting in one of the most spectacular performances in a Pumas jersey we’ve ever seen. That’s saying something as Matera has had some big games for his country, but his intensity and physical prowess had to be seen to be believed on Saturday. What struck us the most was his ability to blast through defenders with ball in only one hand and still manage a perfectly timed and executed one-handed offload. At times, he looked almost possessed and having the strength of ten men – he’ll look back on the highlight reels of this one with genuine pride for many years to come.
After the mastermind of the Pumas win over the Lions earlier this year, fly half Tomas Albornoz had to leave the field with a hand injury after only 13 minutes and we began to feel decidedly uneasy about Argentina’s fortunes. His replacement, Santiago Carreras, is a very fine player make no mistake, but consistency, decision making, and execution are, in big pressure occassions like last Saturday, often not his strong suit. We stand corrected as Carreras was outstanding. He mastered the aerial contest and moved Argentina around the park and into the spaces they needed to be. The Pumas mastery of the aerial contests was exceptional, and New Zealand were left seriously exposed under the high ball. Argentina made an absolute mess of New Zealand’s lineouts at times and finally got the better of them at scrum time. Perhaps what struck us the most of the staggering 121 rucks Argentina found themselves in is that they won 116 of them, led by the rampaging Matera.
Many have said that rugby deep down is a simple game. Master the set pieces, win the aerial battles, and dominate the collisions, and the game is yours. Argentina took these three rules and made them their own last Saturday in Buenos Aires. Their back line in particular of wingers Matteo Carreras, Bautista Delguy, and fullback Juan Cruz Mallia were veritably majestic under the high ball and completely outclassed their All Black opposite numbers. When the opposition makes the outstanding New Zealand back rower Ardie Savea almost nonexistent, something we can honestly say we’ve hardly ever seen, then you know who is mastering the physical contests. Argentina made Savea have an exceptionally quiet game by his very high and traditionally consistent standards, and that perhaps more than anything else demonstrated how Argentina in the space of a week had turned the tables on their opponents.
So what’s next for these two sides? Argentina face a challenging two Test tour to Australia, while the All Blacks host the Springboks. Injuries aside, the Wallabies have found their groove and we’d argue that if that the Pumas can cure their Achilles Heel of a lack of consistency from one game to another, then we are in for a fascinating two weeks in Australia and New Zealand. We have a hunch that we can expect a thrilling display of fast-paced physical but open running rugby, between two sides who are leading proponents of it at the moment in the shape of Argentina in Australia. Meanwhile, in New Zealand, our gut feel is that the Two Tests are likely to be hard fought conservative affairs with plenty of hard-hitting rugby. They may be more of a collective war of tactics and attrition than what we’ll see in Australia. Fascinating to watch but with a very different set of thrills and spills compared to what is likely to be on offer in Australia.
Either way, we can’t wait to find out. This Rugby Championship has now been blown wide open and is so far living up to our premonition of it potentially being the most competitive edition in the tournament’s history – strap yourselves in folks!
Well, that’s it for this week, but yes, we’ll shamelessly admit we couldn’t help but include one last look at Canada’s rather special Julia Shell’s spectacular try fest against Fiji. Once again, well done to our all fabulous Women and onwards and upwards Ladies!
The Lineout 