Autumn's over

Well the snow, frost and arctic winds have made themselves at home now and along with the end of the latest internationals that must mean winter is here!  So how did it go for everyone?  Well below is my view, starting with the English:

England
Mixed bag here but certainly continuing on the path of improvement.  The second half display against NZ was good (though one cant help thinking that NZ eased off) and the win against Australia was undoubtedly the highlight.  Samoa and South Africa were both brutal games - they competed well with Samoa but the brute force of SA was simply too much.

For me the best thing to see was England playing some "heads up rugby", as all the commentators love to say.  The back three for England played brilliantly together and look capable of supplying some great moments come February.  Moody led by example in the pack and I was particularly pleased with Lawes' performance - especially against the Springboks.  He's a superb athlete and his capability of playing in the second row or in the back row makes him a good prospect for the future.

There are genuine reasons to be excited about 2011 for England, though I think Johnson should be aiming more for 2015.  Saying all that though, they won't win anything until they cut out the silly penalties.

New Zealand
Whoa.  They look good don't they?  It's difficult to find a weakness - only their ability to choke at the key moment, and even that doesn't look likely this time around!  Surely next year HAS to be their year, surely! I think most of the scorelines of this series flattered their opponents, I couldn't help think that as soon as they needed to they would just turn up the gas and score a couple of tries.  The rest of the time they seemed to just coast through games.  Carter (or Dan "fucking" Carter as some of my Irish friends refer to him) especially is just looking so relaxed.  His penalty kicking was a bit off - especially against Wales, but apart from that he's pretty much sublime.

Will the team be as relaxed with all the pressure of a home world cup on their shoulders?  Only time will tell

Ireland
I've had many chats with various people about the current state of Irish rugby.  On the whole people seem to be a little worried.  I think they're on the verge of a "transitional" period as many regulars look to be on the way out.  They've got some great young players coming through (Earls, Healy and Sexton for instance) and it's just a case of them filling the big boys shoes.  They don't seem to be as clinical as they once were and the Irish forwards don't seem to be able to do the same job that they do in Munster to try and shut out a game.  I think the next world cup will be the last for a number of players - I hope that their transitional period doesn't last as long as England's had (seemingly seven years and counting!)

South Africa
They suffered across the autumn with series of injuries to key senior personel.  They're still a world class outfit though and whoever they put out you know that you're going to be in for a battle.  That said, behind the scrum, aside from power and break-away tries I cant see much else going on.  If England had the cutting edge that they displayed against Australia then I think the score would have been a lot different.  Matfield and Botha ensure that South Africa are going to win a majority of set pieces and the back row are truely immense.  Apart from that, I think they're beatable (witness the Scotland game) and I was disppointed that England didn't do the job.

There's going to be a lot of pressure on the coaching team when they get back to SA, I think they'll stick with it until the World Cup but after that there's going to be a few hard conversations as really, they've gone backwards since Jake White left the post

Wales
Tradition dictates that Wales will always have world class half backs and its not letting them down so far - so much so that one of the better one's is playing everywhere but at 10.  James Hook is an immense talent, he's good at 12 but I think he could be so much better and 10.  Stephen Jones is reliable but for me he hasnt ignited the backs enough this autumn.  I've not seen enough of Biggar at International level to properly comment.  Wales are missing the spark that Shane Williams gives them, there's some good young wings coming through and Lee Byrne is as solid as a rock (apart from his mistake at the weekend!), but they're just lacking a certain something.

As for the forwards - they're as solid as always but I feel Gatland needs to decide on a set of eight and give them some consistent game time together - especially behind the front three.  They also need to decide who's going to captain the team and stick with him.  If Ryan Jones isn't good enough to get into the first 15 then he shouldn't be captain.  Wales have gone back a little bet compared to the last few years - but they could come back with a bang.

Australia
A great win against NZ on their way to Europe and a solid win against Wales when they got here.  Then they had to face England on a day when England decided they'd start playing 80 minutes of rugby we've not seen since 2003!  The Australian backs pose a massive risk to any side but in defence I think they lack discpline.  But it's the age old story about Australian forwards - they're still not good enough.  Outside of Elsom I don't believe you'd consider any Aussie forwards for a potential world XV.  Having good backs is one thing, but if they don't have the possession and service from a solid front eight then they're easily beatable.

Scotland
And finally our friends from north of the border.  Smashed by NZ one week, they then turn it round to record one of their best wins against the world champions.  The Scottish forwards now are a match for most teams out there - but would you expect any less from Andy Robinson?  The firepower behind the scrum is lacking though.  Like the Aussie pack, there's not one Scottish back that would even get close to a shortlist for a world XV at the moment.

So thats it then.  I think the northern hemisphere teams proved that they're a match for the southern teams.  New Zealand though are still a class apart for me.  I only hope that come autumn next year they reach for the chocker again!!!

Kick off!

Hi All

I'm new to this game so bare with my whilst I find my feet!  One game I'm not new to is rugby which I've been following with a passion for some time now.  With some time spent living in Ireland just after the 2003 World Cup my passion was only intensified, and rugby became even more important to me (the first game England played when I was living in Dublin was also the first game they lost following their triumph in Australia - and yes, that was against the Irish, at "Fortress Twickenham"!).  After marrying a lovely Irish girl who follows O'Driscoll and co as avidly as I follow Johnson and co (at our wedding in 2010 we had France v Ireland showing on a big screen before dinner!) it became a little competitive in my house during February and March!  Throw in some equally passionate friends and social gatherings become an intense session of banter and friendly ridicule!

So why have I started blogging about rugby?  Well I'm by no means an expert in the game but I often have my own views and I figured this would be the best place to vent them and hopefully inspire some discussion - on the off chance that anyone reads this!  I'll probably be fairly biased - as that is my way, but whilst Quins and England would be my teams of choice I'll no doubt talk about all teams - especially in the run up to the 2011 World Cup.

So feel free to comment - one of the best parts of the game is the banter and discussion it inspires in the bars and pubs once the final whistle has gone.  Lets see if we can get a virtual version of that on here (though you'll have to supply your own beer!)!!