‘We saw you on the TV at the weekend, covering the Ireland game.’ On another school run, in another city, such an exchange with a fellow mum might not be overly surprising. The Autumn Nations Series has been kind of a big deal, after all. The fact the mum is German and the city is Amsterdam meant it came as a bit of a shock. ‘Really? You watched?’
She did, apparently. Because it ‘looked great fun’. Which it most certainly was but I wouldn’t have expected the fuss to have made its way into Dutch homes of a weekend. The game she was referring to, Ireland v Fiji, was not a headline-grabber, nor the biggest test for Ireland of the autumn, but the most casual of viewers wouldn’t necessarily know that.
And therein lies the beauty of the few weeks of rugby we have been enjoying. It’s given a chance for fans of any and every level to enjoy top-quality Test matches that were, mostly, a lot of fun to watch. Unless you’re Welsh, that is.
Even then, the audible appreciation ringing around the Principality Stadium for the double world champions South Africa was a credit to every supporter simultaneously groaning in despair at Wales’ worst losing run in history.
Much has been written about what this series says about each side’s place in the game right now, but the headline must surely be it’s been an amazing month. We’ve had the very best playing the very best, something of which international football fans outside a major tournament can only dream.
I will die on the hill of the Six Nations, proverbially speaking, but to have the unstoppable South Africa and resurgent New Zealand in the mix has given us a much broader picture of where we are in this stage of the World Cup cycle, which in turn has offered narratives, intrigue and jeopardy aplenty.
I’m always somewhat bemused by the ways in which rugby fans or, perhaps more specifically rugby media, wring their hands over the state of the game. In the context of the English domestic climate, with the recent folding of two Premiership clubs, I get it. Of course I do.
But now is the time to be shouting about the excitement and entertainment of professional rugby, because surely that celebration is how we bring in more eyeballs and revenue.
And where we are, is fascinating. The current South Africa outfit is arguably one of the best to have ever played the sport. According to former Wales centre Jamie Roberts on TNT at the weekend, who’d just watched the Boks demolish his homeland, they are indeed the very best, All Blacks of 2011-2015 included.
Elsewhere, we are seeing an Australia who are finally emerging from the doldrums and whetting the appetite for a meaty stew of a 2025 British & Irish Lions tour, which had looked to be as appetising as a salad in winter.
We’re witnessing a Scotland side who are not only backing up their World Cup form but building on it, being the only home nation to beat the Wallabies. New Zealand are once again on the rise and Ireland’s spell of dominance has been broken; a sad thing for this Ireland fan but no bad thing for the sport.
France has thrown a wunderkind into the mix in the form of the ‘electric scooter’ Louis Bielle-Biarrey, as though a DuPont-led side needed another exciting playmaker to get us going.
And England? Well, they are keeping us talking, aren’t they? While Rassie Erasmus has managed to combine a roster of superstars that has even the bench groaning under its South African talent, the questions of how to bring the world-class players at Steve Borthwick’s disposal into a cohesive, consistently winning unit remain.
The No.10 selection chat over the maverick genius of Marcus Smith, the recently injured George Ford and the seemingly steadying Fin Smith, is both a distraction from the wider issues, and an indication of where the squad is.
Were everything running smoothly, the fly-half question would be one of excitement rather than hair-pulling, as it arguably is with Ireland’s conundrum of Jack Crowley, Ciaran Frawley and Sam Prendergast. We still don’t know if England’s issue is one of system or execution, but make no mistake, the talent is there.
A few near misses on the results sheets and world-class players such as Ollie Sleightholme, Sam Underhill and Ben Earl suggest a strong Six Nations is still entirely possible and will turn everything on its head for Borthwick and his boys.
As for any analysis of Wales’ woes, so much has been written and said already, and if Warren Gatland can’t turn the tanker yet, then I’ll be damned if I would think my tuppence-worth will be of use. All I can do is offer my sympathies. Which I do, â’m holl galon.
With one game left, a potential humdinger between Ireland and Australia, let’s keep the excitement going. Heading back to the Gallagher Premiership this weekend, I urge casual fans who have been drawn in, to hang around. Because yes, it’s a chance for management to reset after a mixed autumn, but more importantly for fans, it’s an opportunity for the players to show form, fitness and flair.
If they have any hope of pulling on an England jersey come February, and to be knocking on the door of the Lions den thereafter, this is where it starts, under the Friday night lights at the Stoop and Kingston Park.
To paraphrase a certain German non-rugby fan mum, it should be an awful lot of fun.
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