JEFF PROBYN
A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME
What a weekend of rugby we had last week with the women's World Cup final, the second round of Autumn Internationals and finally a Barbarians game against a New Zealand XV.
Firstly, can I say I know just how the players feel losing a World Cup final having played in the ‘91 game against Australia and it not good, but it's a lesson that you can learn from.
For some it will be the only shot they ever have to play in what could be a life changing game, and they will live with the thoughts of what might have been. That said, they can be very proud of what they have achieved as reaching a final is a result in itself and living with thoughts of what might have been doesn't change the result.
The game itself was a pulsating end-to-end battle, with the advantage switching from one side to the other – but if I am honest I feel it was the over-reliance of the Red Roses on the driving maul as their main try scoring method that cost them the game.
I am sure they will learn from this experience and come back as a better side with more options in attack and I wouldn't be surprised if they repeat or even better their historic 30-match winning run.
In the men's internationals, the surprise of the weekend must be Italy's win over Australia which was almost as big a shock as Argentina's win at Twickenham the week before.
The Italians are always the underdog when playing against a foundation union and have struggled when playing the southern hemisphere sides, so this was a watershed moment for their game.
France continued their steady progress with a deserved win against the current world champions South Africa to reach 12 in their run of unbeaten matches.
Wales managed to achieve what England failed to do and get a result against the Pumas, while Ireland beat Fiji and Scotland ran the All Blacks close but not quite close enough.
Meanwhile, England appear to put right some of the mistakes from the Argentina game against an enthusiastic if not a strong Japanese team.
As Eddie Jones has a foot in both camps it would be easy to say he knew how and where the Japanese What didn't help England is Eddie Jones coming out with comwould play giving England an advantage going into the game, but after the previous week's result England needed a big game.
However, even though there was no chance of England losing, there were some strange decisions by the referee James Doleman. Not least the award of a penalty try and yellow card against Japan's Siosaia Fifita for allegedly collapsing a maul while only giving Jonny May a yellow card for illegally stopping what would certainly have been a Japanese try.
“Over-reliance on the driving maul as the main try scoring method cost Red Roses the game”
It's that sort of lack of consistency by referees that puzzles fans and spoils the game, particularly as Fifita was in a driving maul and the collapse could have been blamed on any number of other players, including the English, while May's offence was as a lone player in an act of desperation in trying to stop a score. All in all, the England game showed a step forward from the game against Argentina but they still have a long way to go.
Even though the All Blacks are not currently playing at their best and are ranked the lowest they have ever been – they headed into yesterday's game on a six-match winning streak.
ments that they were there for the taking, as all that achieves is added encouragent for the All Blacks to prove him wrong.
For me, the best game last week was the Barbarians against an All Blacks XV that was played at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.
Admittedly, it wasn't the first choice All Blacks who were in fact playing Scotland at roughly the same time last Sunday. However, according to Sean Fitzpatrick who I watched the game with, a number of the All Black players in the Barbarians game are expected be a part of New Zealand's World Cup squad in France.
It was a typical Barbarians game with both side playing an open attacking style of rugby that was thoroughly enjoyed by a big crowd at the stadium. Referee Luke Pearce deserves some credit for allowing the game to flow without too many interruptions and joining in the spirit of the game.
As usual, the Baa-Baas picked a few players who are out of favour with the current England set-up and gave them the chance to show what Eddie is missing.
Joe Marler was his usual flamboyant self and showed a dominance over his opposition in the scrum and even showed a few touches around the park.
There was also the opportunity for the returning Zach Mercer to showcase his credentials as a different style of No.8 to Sam Simmonds or Billy Vunipola in the hope that he may have attracted Eddie's eye and make it into the next squad.
