The teams that started building up to what should be the rugby match of the year in Auckland in September won their first Tests of the international season but in both cases the losing sides took home more of the positives.
In fairness, neither the Springboks nor the All Blacks ever looked like losing their respective home games against Italy and France. Leading 28-3 at halftime at Loftus the Boks seemed to be en route to the 40-point win most critics had predicted. At that point it did look like the Boks had finally broken down the determined defensive system of the opposition and were set to run riot.
But it didn’t turn out that way and an Italy team missing seven frontline players stuck to their task and actually outscored the Boks 21-7 in the first 30 minutes of the second half.
In Dunedin, where the All Blacks won 31-27, the hosts suffered from having three tries chalked off. Had they been allowed the score might have ballooned, but in the end the Kiwis were made to sweat for their win.
Any win by the All Blacks over France would appear to be something to celebrate if you look at the recent history between the sides. France have been on the winning side in the last couple of contests on French soil, among them the opening game of the 2023 World Cup. But there was context.
France arrived in New Zealand with an even more under-strength squad than the one Italy brought to SA. The Kiwi commentators admitted in the buildup that they didn’t know much about the France team, who were weakened by a controversial decision made some time ago to rest the top players after a long domestic season.
Former All Black skipper Kieran Read predicted a 25-point win for the All Blacks and it seemed to be the consensus. It didn’t come close to that, with France exposing some deficiencies in the home pack and also in their defensive capabilities out wide.
Italy scored three tries against the normally watertight Bok defence, and in addition to being more competitive than expected in the lineouts, they also made a mess of the Bok rucks, forcing slow ball that inhibited the home team’s attacking intent.
You learn more from hard, competitive games than you do from one-sided fixtures such as the Boks’ romp against the Barbarians the previous week.
In both cases the coaches might say it was good the opposition fronted. You learn more from hard, competitive games than you do from one-sided fixtures such as the Boks’ romp against the Barbarians the previous week.
Yet, considering they were understrength, it was the losers who gained more. The French team were made up mostly of players who had been part of the incredibly successful France under-20 team from the past few seasons and the new players will have had their confidence boosted by giving the All Blacks a go on New Zealand soil. Ditto the new Italian players who faced the world champions.
Yet, while the French and Italians gained from the exercise, the fact that they came understrength is yet another reason why World Rugby needs to hurry up and get a global season in place.
It is completely understandable that teams travel understrength given the calendar and demands placed on the modern player but it short-changes the most important stakeholder in rugby, the paying spectator. The All Black/France series, in which two teams in the top three on the rankings play each other, should be a box office event to rival the British & Irish Lions series in Australia, but it isn’t because France aren’t the Full Monty.
Going understrength to build depth and to rest players happens a lot in international white-ball cricket, but it usually cheapens the contests outside of a World Cup. Rugby should be wary of following that path.
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