England sniff huge chance to beat All Blacks on New Zealand soil; Ireland up against it after bruising opening Test vs Springboks; pressure ramping up on Warren Gatland as win-shy Wales look underpowered; watch southern hemisphere summer tour action live on Sky Sports
Saturday 13 July 2024 07:16, UK
Steve Borthwick's England sense an opportunity ahead of their second Test vs the All Blacks, while Ireland and Wales face difficult tasks in their series vs South Africa and Australia respectively, all live on Sky Sports....
Into the final quarter of last week's New Zealand vs England Test in Dunedin, Borthwick's charges were winning and a massive opportunity to win on Kiwi soil for the first time since 2003 stared them in the face.
They lost by a point and there can be no denying it was a huge chance lost. Yet, once the frustration subsided, England will know they are more than in the mix, and the All Blacks are the ones under enormous pressure from their media and public ahead of the second and final Test at Eden Park.
Before last autumn's Rugby World Cup in France, and even during it, England under Borthwick would likely have been dispatched with ease by New Zealand. But this is not that All Blacks side, and England are playing differently now too.
Legends of All Blacks rugby in Sam Whitelock, Brodie Retallick, Dane Coles and Aaron Smith have retired, while others in Richie Mo'unga, Shannon Frizzell, Leicester Fainga'anuku and Nepo Laulala have left for playing opportunities overseas.
New Zealand are also under a new head coach in Scott Robertson, who is sure to be still finding his way in the Test rugby landscape.
Meanwhile, a poor start under Borthwick which saw England finish fourth in the 2023 Six Nations after three defeats, and lose 2023 Rugby World Cup warm-up Tests to Wales and Fiji, has given way to a far more positive outlook following the 2024 Six Nations.
Denying Andy Farrell's Ireland the chance of successive Grand Slams felt like a turning point for Borthwick's team, dominating the game against a first-class opponent, and looking to play rugby on the front foot as opposed to employing negative tactics.
In the backs, Cardiff-born Immanuel Feyi-Waboso appears a game-changer, while Northampton trio Alex Mitchell, George Furbank and Tommy Freeman are growing in influence. Inside-centre Ollie Lawrence has the potential to be one of the best in his position in the world.
Chandler Cunningham-South is a player of immense potential in the forwards, while George Martin looks like a mainstay of the England pack for years to come. The likes of Maro Itoje and Sam Underhill are returning to close to their form of 2019 too.
Seven of the last 18 England vs New Zealand match-ups have taken place in New Zealand for seven All Black victories. This is England's greatest chance.
Ireland were already shorn of four key players heading to the belly of the beast to face the World Cup-winning Springboks, with full-back Hugo Keenan, scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park, wing Mack Hansen and No 8 Jack Conan out, and the Irish outlook has only gotten more pessimistic since their frustrating opening Test defeat in Pretoria.
Hooker Dan Sheehan (knee ACL) and starting scrum-half Craig Casey (concussion) have been ruled out of the second and final Test with serious injuries, with the men in green firmly up against it to gain victory. After a ferociously physical opening Test, there are sure to be more players struggling at the very tail end of an extremely long season too.
Having done well to remain in the first Test, Ireland were then stung by two controversial TMO calls which blew the game wide open.
Welsh TMO Ben Whitehouse ruled out a James Lowe try for Ireland due to a subjective breakdown call, and then fed back there was 'inconclusive evidence' to rule out a Cheslin Kolbe South Africa try, which ensured a two-score Boks lead.
Lowe's try would have levelled the contest at 13-13, and handed fly-half Jack Crowley a conversion for the lead, while Kolbe's effort moments later came as a result of Lowe keeping a Handre Pollard penalty kick to touch in-field - though replays suggested he was in touch while playing the ball.
For both decisions to go against them in an eventual seven-point loss, Ireland will no doubt be incredibly frustrated, potentially even angry. It just seems a case they lack the energy and resources to turn things around in the space of a week.
"It's not for me to say but I saw quite a few of them live and had a dubious thought about it but anyway, that's life," head coach Andy Farrell has admitted since.
"We will go through the right channels and make sure we do things properly as far as those things are concerned. You'll make of it what you want. Unlucky, lucky, that's the game as well.
"You'll make your own decision on whether he [Lowe] still had the ball in his right hand or whether the ball hit him as he threw it back into the field and his foot was in touch.
"That's for us all to debate. It is what it is, that is the sport, it's difficult to referee. You just want consistency, that's all."
It is remarkable really the depth to which Wales and their performances have fallen.
They have moved from an ageing team that was once a challenge for everyone and regularly successful, to a vastly-inexperienced one which cannot seem to buy a victory at present.
Indeed, Warren Gatland's Wales are on a run of seven straight losses. And it is the manner of them that is most worrying.
This current run started during October's World Cup in France, where Wales - blessed to be on a far softer side of the draw - came up against and lost to an Argentina side who would go on to lose their subsequent World Cup semi-final vs New Zealand 44-6.
The 2024 Six Nations then saw Wales lose all five fixtures, including to Italy in Cardiff for the second time running, picking up the wooden spoon for the first time since 2003.
Last week, facing the weakest of the southern hemisphere's big three in Australia, and a Wallabies group new head coach Joe Schmidt had only had together for five days, Wales never looked like winning in a 25-16 loss.
Gatland may have guided Wales to three Six Nations Grand Slams and two World Cup semi-finals in his first spell in charge, but he is a man under big pressure. There are growing calls for change.
"We've just got to keep working hard. That's [11th in the world ranking] just where we are at the moment," Gatland said this week.
"We know we're going through a process playing at the highest level, which is about learning to handle some pressure.
"It's just staying in the arm wrestle. That takes a little bit of time in terms of on-the-field stuff. I have been through that with other teams in the past. Once you get across the line, players in the team learn that understanding and turn those games that are close into Ws [wins]. That's what we've got to work through at the moment."
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