The bookies had Ireland to win by 41, and in the end a 49-7 winning
margin was probably fair on both sides – the Georgians played well enough to
get on the scoreboard, while the superiority of the Irish reflected in their
six try demolition of their sub-standard opposition. In the end, Ireland will
go away happy with third place in the world rankings, and Georgia will move on
with more experience under their belts.
Regardless of the scoreline, it did a disservice to how well Georgia
did to stand up to a side vastly their better for the first 50 minutes. Let me
remind you that the score at half-time was only a measly 9-0 in the home side’s
favour, an advantage that probably made Joe Schmidt go a bit red in the face
heading in at half-time. With forty minutes played it was still very much
anybody’s game.
Was it Georgia were standing up in the face of adversity? Probably to
a certain degree – the thought of the scalp of the defending Six Nations’
champions must have been a tantalising prospect indeed and an impressive first
half rearguard effort showed that Georgia were at the Aviva Stadium to at least
make life difficult for their hosts at least.
In the end it was probably more to do with Ireland showing their
opponents a little too much respect. As much as it is true that you can never
underestimate a side, there is only so far that can go as well. With the
greatest of respect to Georgia, they aren’t even close to being anywhere near
the quality of the All Blacks or the Springboks, and Ireland should have been
out of sight by half time. And as one of the best sides in the world, these
games are the ones that you show your world class in.
It’s rather a shame, therefore, that none of those selected really put
their hands up for selection. Dave Kilcoyne put in a good shift at loosehead
prop but was caught out at the set piece, while Felix Jones was on hand to
finish two tries well, but beyond those two there was nothing spectacular to
catch the eye for Joe Schmidt. And it’s a bit of a shame too as this was the
perfect game for someone to put in a stellar performance and really put forward
a case for a start against the Wallabies.
In that regard Schmidt may well be concerned. True his side did end up
winning by 42 points, but he’ll be worried by the lack of depth shown by his
second string players, especially up front where the Georgians possessed a
slight bit of superiority. Tighthead is a real area of concern, as Mike Ross
started again under Schmidt, with the aptly Irish named Rodney Ah You seemingly
unable to make the transition from bench man to starter, while a failing
line-out will cost them against better sides.
Criticisms aside (don’t judge how I have any), a win’s a win I suppose.
Whether the Kiwi coach is looking forward to the World Cup yet or not is
unknown, but certainly this Guinness Series will put his side in good form
ahead of their Six Nations title defence in February, regardless of the
Wallabies score on Saturday. The ruthlessness which Ireland used to dispose of
the Springboks a week ago proved that the Irish belong at the top table of
world rugby, and a further victory against the Australians will only further
the belief in Dublin.
Speculation is glorious though, the Wallabies come first.
England in awe
Week two and another loss for the Sweet Chariot.
The All Blacks defeat was a decent performance and I’ll give them
that, but on Saturday they were bested by a morally devoid Springboks side. In
fact, in the end a three point win was very flattering on the home side who
managed 14 points while their visitors were down a man in the forwards. Had the
Springboks kept their discipline then it would have been a runaway victory.
I was thoroughly disappointed by England actually. I do think they’re
overhyped by the media, but for a side that is as well coached as they are they
seemed to have no significant way of breaking down the South Africans other
than the driving maul. If they want to be one of the sides competing at the
World Cup in a few months’ time then Stuart Lancaster needs to up his ideas a
bit.
As for Wales, they seem to fluff their lines every time they come up
against a Southern Hemisphere side. This week it was fearless Fiji who
travelled to the Millennium Stadium and but for Campese Ma’afu’s stupidity (and
I don’t exaggerate) they could have continued Wales’ wretched record in the
Autumn Internationals. Warren Gatland will surely be losing sleep over his
side’s mental barrier against the teams from the South.
And spare a thought for poor Scotland. They did remarkably well to
match the All Blacks, changed as they were, toe for toe for the majority of the
game and had Greig Laidlaw landed that penalty to put the Scots ahead then
maybe things would have finished a little differently. Still, a lot of
positives for Vern Cotter to take and build on, especially in the aftermath of
last week’s 41-31 win over Argentina, and a welcome reminder that the All
Blacks are indeed vulnerable, especially when down a few big names.
Even so, it’s still the southern teams that hold all the power in
world rugby.
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