The Autumn Internationals: How will the Home Nations fare?
Posted by Sport.co.uk on: 29 October 2009 - 16:22
Author: Michael Hodge
As the 2009-10 season starts to heat up, the home nations are preparing for the annual visit of their southern hemisphere counterparts. The autumn internationals are now firmly entrenched in the sporting calendar and have produced some fantastic rugby over the past few years. Sport.co.uk takes a look at how the home nations will fare during November’s festival of rugby.
England
England’s preparation for their test matches against Australia, Argentina and the All Blacks have been dominated by their injury crisis. Martin Johnson has over 20 of his first choice squad unavailable through injury, including his entire first choice front row. In response to the injury crisis, Johnson has called up three new caps in Courtney Lawes, David Barnes and Richard Blaze.
Of the new faces in the squad, the one that stands out is Northampton youngster Courtney Lawes. With only 20 1st XV games under his belt, Lawes has been described as a gamble selection, but Lawes aggressive performances have turned heads in the Guinness Premiership.
Lawes will bring a youthful arrogance and an enforcer-like attitude to the England squad, something which they have lacked since Johnson himself quit international rugby. Lawes may not be able to command a place in the international side straight away, but this early exposure to the set up will certainly benefit him for his future years.
Away from the injury crisis, Johnson will realise that his honeymoon period is over. Having been in charge of the national side for 18 months, Johnson will know that the bosses at HQ will now start to expect results and for the England team to rise up through the IRB world rankings.
Last season was a mixed bag for Johnson. A brilliant performance against France was coupled with some average performances against South Africa and Argentina. Johnson will know that this year’s international season needs to start well and that he will be expected to win a minimum of 2 of their 3 November matches. That would probably mean a victory over either New Zealand or Australia.
So how will England perform? Most supporters will be expecting a victory over the Pumas, while Australia and New Zealand maybe be a trickier prospect. There are reasons for optimism though. Australia and New Zealand are not the same teams they were 12 months ago. Australia looked woeful in the Tri-Nations, while the All Blacks have missed some key players recently. Another plus for England is that a revived and in form Jonny Wilkinson is back in the international fold. With Wilkinson likely to be surrounded by some new faces in the England side, his experience and form could be the key for Martin Johnson’s men.
Wales
Wales come off the back of a disappointing 2009 season for them. Having raised the bar the previous season, Warren Gatland’s men would have been unhappy to have missed out on Six Nations glory, despite being tipped by many to retain the title.
The November tests see Wales face Samoa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina at the Millennium Stadium with Warren Gatland, like Martin Johnson missing a few of his key players.
Whereas Johnson is struggling with his front row, Gatland’s headaches are based at scrum half. Lions star, Mike Phillips is set to miss all of the test matches and possibly the Six Nations while he undergoes surgery to repair his damaged ankle ligaments. Phillips obvious replacement is the star of the 2005 Lions, Dwayne Peel, however due to contract issues with Peel’s club, Sale Sharks, Peel looks unlikely to be made available for the first game against New Zealand at least, leaving Gatland forced into selecting 3rd choice Gareth Cooper.
Elsewhere, Gatland has headaches of a different kind. In James Hook, Stephen Jones and Dan Biggar, Wales boast three of the best fly halves in Europe. Although Jones has been unfairly labelled as a conservative fly half throughout his career, his experience looks set to keep him in the starting XV, probably with Hook at inside centre, leaving Biggar to come off the bench and add a spark, if required.
With Wales having beaten Australia last year, Gatland will be looking to go one further and defeat the All Blacks. Argentina will be a tough match, especially up front, but one that Wales should win, while Wales v Samoa matches will always be treated by the Welsh as grudge matches after the Islanders famous victories in the 1991 and 1999 world cups.
Scotland
By their own admission, Scotland endured a torrid 2009 season with their only victories coming against Italy and Canada, a run that saw Frank Hadden lose his job as national coach. This season sees former England and Edinburgh coach, Andy Robinson take charge of national side, starting with challenges from Fiji, Australia and Argentina.
While the Scottish talent pool is not as deep as the other European sides, Scotland has not been as affected as badly by injuries as the other sides have. One major blow for Robinson though, is the loss of Northampton and Lions prop Euan Murray, one of their genuine world class players.
Murray’s loss will undoubtedly weaken the Scotland pack, traditionally their strength. Although they still have the likes of Ross Ford and Allan Jacobsen, Murray’s presence at scrum time and his mobility around the field may force Robinson too look to change the Scottish point of attack.
Elsewhere in the Scotland squad, they still have their stalwarts in tough tackling flanker Jason White and scrum half options in Mike Blair and Chris Cusiter, but again, the absence of Simon Taylor leaves a big hole in the back row.
Scotland’s back line, for so long almost considered a laughing stock at international level, now looks to have some genuinely exciting talent amongst its ranks. Hugo Southwell, looks a new player for Stade Francais, while the Lamont brothers will add power and pace on the wings and the exciting Evans brothers add the creativity and flair. At fly half, Phil Godman is starting to put in the performances that his potential hinted at, while the goalkicking of Chris Paterson will ensure that the Scots have the ability to keep the scoreboard ticking over?
Without doubt, Scotland will have the least difficult November, having only to play one of the big southern hemisphere 3 (Australia). The Scots should be able to comfortably see off a physical but limited Fijian side, while Argentina will be looking at this game as a possible win. Murray’s absence may mean that Argentine pack could have the edge up front, but if Robinson trusts his young back line then Scotland could spring a surprise against the side ranked 4th in the world.
Australia will be a different story. The Wallaby pack is not the joke that it was 2-3 years ago and, although out of form, Robbie Deans men will expect a win at Murrayfield. Overall, Robinson will be hoping for at least 2 wins out of his first 3 matches.
Ireland
The Grand Slam champions of 2009 go into this autumn series full of hope. With Irish rugby currently riding high on the crest of a wave, Declan Kidney will have high hopes of a successful November.
After failing their only big test last November (a 22-3 home defeat to New Zealand), Kidney’s men now face Fiji, Australia and, world champions, South Africa.
Ireland have few injury worries before their first match against the Wallabies with captain Brian O’Driscoll leading from the front. The Irish pack looks as strong as it ever has with Lions captain, Paul O’Connell keen to exact some revenge for his Lion’s side defeat in South Africa.
The match against South Africa will be one of the most eagerly anticipated matches of the season, with the world champion Springboks facing the European champion Irish and a fired up Croke Park. Ireland have a good recent history against the Springboks, culminating with a 4-try, 32-15 hammering at Lansdowne Road in 2006 and another 17-12 win in 2004 and they will fancy their chances of inflicting another defeat for the visitors.
The Irish will be expected to comfortably see off the Fijian threat, with Kidney possibly giving a few of the younger squad players a run out, while the Australian test match will be another emotive occasion. Australia against Ireland at Croke Park usually brings up memories of some brutal encounters, but usually these are played under the “International Rules” (hybrid of Aussie Rules Football and Gaelic Football), so the Wallabies can expect a hostile reception from the Dublin faithful in what will prove to be another fascinating occasion.
With Irish rugby currently enjoying a golden age, Declan Kidney will demand that his players go and win all 3 of their matches, something that they are very capable of.
These are special times to be an Irish supporter and three more wins for the men in green would cement their names as the best Ireland team of all time.