AI's Review

Not me, Eddie Butler has had a go...

AUSTRALIA
The results tell the tale of a tour that slipped away. Losses to France, Ireland and England would do little to dispel the suspicion – never far from the pens of those who like to underscore rugby union’s lowly place in the list of Australian favourite winter sports – that the Wallabies are in crisis. Well, perhaps they are, but they still refuse to give in and they fight to the bitter end with invention and audacity. Michael Cheika has not got off to a flying start as coach – anything but – except that it is already clear that his players believe in him. And no country responds better to a crisis than Australia. Defeats on tour in Europe in the autumn of 2014 do not necessarily diminish the prospect of Australia being serious challengers in the autumn of 2015. Israel Folau is a player apart. Bernard Foley had a grand tour. Kurtley Beale seems to be back on-message. Australia lost and lost again, but they were equally consistent in providing glimpses of an outrageousness that could serve them well in 10 months’ time.

ENGLAND
Vying with Wales to see which team had had the more miserable November carried a strange sort of masochistic allure, but it would have led nowhere healthy. This was no time to be gleeful only about the misery of a near neighbour. England – like Wales – responded at the last with a performance that put a swaying train back on track. It’s not exactly going flat out – there is something all too predictable about England’s pods of runners – but the host nation is moving. Ben Morgan looks like the number one No8, and the back three look dangerous. There is still an issue at half-back and midfield over the course of a month, but we tend to have our judgment swayed by the last outing. And a victory does wonders for positive thinking. Perhaps the biggest question remains about the setting of the tempo. England have responded to the pace set by others but, to win the World Cup in their back yard, they will have to stamp their authority on the action and say: “We shall play at this speed.” It may be fast or it may be slow, but England must control the rhythm. There are harsher things to learn about yourselves.

FRANCE
Just when it seemed safe to squash the treasonable thought that playing for France no longer stirred the patriotic juices, along came Teddy Thomas, the new sensation with four tries in his first two games, against Fiji and Australia. Or rather, along he didn’t come to an analysis session at the French camp in Marcoussis before his third Test, against Argentina. Teddy was dropped and despite all the hand-wringing and expressions of regret and oaths to respect the code of humility, he became the latest example of a Bleu who can’t be arsed. Of course, France then managed to lose to the Pumas with a performance that confirmed that there seemed to be more than a few Bleus who can’t be … you get the picture. It’s a little unfair, because with victories over Australia and Fiji, France had shown glimpses of a rejuvenated faith in running from deep, with Camille Lopez at 10 and Alexandre Dumoulin in the centre, and, yes, Thomas on the wing, unafraid to show their desire to play for their country. Does it matter? Being France, this means everything and it means nothing.

IRELAND
November for the host countries rarely delivers step-by-step improvement. The odd one-off win, sure, but not this: an admirably composed start against South Africa, a professional job on Georgia and a rousing finale against Australia. The reigning champions of the Six Nations shoved and glided into the global elite, demonstrating that they know how to manage a game to its conclusion and can respond positively to changing conditions on the field. Paul O’Connell was inspired in the forwards and Robbie Henshaw soothed his and Ireland’s way into the age beyond BOD. And masterminding the whole operation was Johnny Sexton, as irascible and yet as cool as ever. A scuttling, antsy model of calm. Quite what Ireland would do or be without Sexton and O’Connell is a difficult one to assess, but no more taxing than the matter of playing without O’Driscoll. Joe Schmidt has built a squad both solid and supple, a team that wins and defies easy analysis.

NEW ZEALAND
The quest to become the first side to win the World Cup twice in succession is exercising the minds of the All Blacks (as if they weren’t already thinking hard enough about the game). The honing of the mental edge – they have apparently identified a defective complacency in the buildup to their quarter-final against France in Cardiff in 2007 – seems to have given them extra physical powers. In the defining minutes of their testing games against England and Scotland, and particularly against Wales, the All Blacks soared to the challenge. They concluded each game so well that they are now worried about how they start. They also entertain a doubt, it is said, about their defence against the rolling maul. Don’t pause to applaud. Nothing is perfect. Find the next fault and fix it pronto. Seek new talent: Colin Slade has gone from utility back-up to indispensable replacement, the player whose entry against Wales turned the game on its head; Charlie Faumuina, too, has made significant contributions after the hour-mark. To beat Richie McCaw’s starting team and replacements will require a remarkable performance – but the World Cup exists for such an upset. And so the cogitation of the All Blacks will continue.

SCOTLAND
An autumn of vibrant colours. A team revitalised in the season of decay. Vern Cotter has reignited self-belief in a squad that had possibly lost the feeling, deep down, that they could be so much more than merely brave against the best. From the Gray brothers in the second row, combining basic work with conspicuous supplementaries, to the individual sparkle of Mark Bennett, Alex Dunbar and Stuart Hogg, there is a new beat to Scotland’s game. The endeavour of the forwards is matched by the invention of the three-quarters, and that can happen only when the half-backs connect. Here came the November bonus: the control and authority shown by Greig Laidlaw and Finn Russell. It wasn’t perfect since they failed to beat the New Zealand team that was deliberately selected as an opportunity for the All Black dirt-trackers – and therefore a real opportunity for Scotland – but a first victory against these opponents in any guise might have been an exaltation too far. With hunger unsatisfied and ambitions rekindled, Scotland approach 2015 at a gallop.

SOUTH AFRICA
The Springboks looked completely spent by the end of their tour. Not so much physically, because they are such striking specimens that another series of matches is never going to exhaust their reserves. But mentally they looked shot by the end of play against Wales. Their usual ruthlessness turned to a vulnerability rarely seen in these most hard-headed of players. Willie le Roux, sumptuous as a runner, was reduced to a fumbling heap of nerves. It’s a cruel game and the masters of dishing out the lesson had the tables turned on them by Ireland and Wales. Their driving maul never turned into a bulldozer and they failed to feed their fliers. They bashed and they boshed but it would appear that they can no longer force their way through by brute power alone. There is time to absorb the lesson, but perhaps Heyneke Meyer should give his charges a good break before he sets about reinventing them for next year’s World Cup.

WALES
Nothing much on the positive side was emerging from an arduous month – until the last day. Wales had played well – very well – in patches against Australia and New Zealand and had come gravely unstuck in the closing minutes. Even in victory over Fiji they had nearly come apart in the same period. Wales didn’t really need to have it confirmed that they could sparkle in patches for 70-odd minutes – they already knew that. They wanted to be able to go the full 80 minutes. And at last they did against South Africa. In settling their nerves, Dan Biggar emerged as the clear winner of the race to the World Cup as Wales’s 10, Rhys Webb took over from Mike Phillips at scrum-half and Samson Lee from Adam Jones at prop. There are still minuses: the lineout; the scrum can still wobble. And the nerves of the nation may take time to settle. But all in all, the 50-50 record – two wins against two defeats – represents progress. It could have been a lot worse.

Eddie Butler has a nice writing style. "Johnny Sexton, as irascible and yet as cool as ever. A scuttling, antsy model of calm." Good description, no?

...but its a bit hokey??

Yeah well life is hokey.

Saw this a while back, really enoyed it.  Messer Heaslip puts shyboy Sexton on the spot.  But it's this part of Sexton I love.  He gets a jovial hit and he still begs to differ, even whilst smiling.  He's resisting the version.  The fight is still in him, the unyielding stubborness is still there:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIhkxvYfVM0