Good post, Don. Fully agree on the “serious injury aspect !

An interesting angle on where the world’s top teams are weakest. Your mind works in interesting ways, Harry ! Really enjoyed the read.

Before reading beyond the title and the first couple of paras. I thought ” Ox Nche to Ireland” Ireland have the hookers, two really good ones, and then another three who are strong. But they lack the props to truly mix it with the Boks at scrum time.

Two wings I would want. Cheslin Kolbe and Louis BB. I’ll have the one who comes out ahead for the Australia, the country I now live in and love. Kolbe ! And for my land of birth, of which I am intensely proud and love too, Louis BB.

Then I can have a forward for Australia. I’m taking back the big Australian from France. I’ll have Manny Meafou, seamless transition on from Will Skelton when he goes.

I would have to give an Irishman away. That would be Caelan Doris to the AB’s. Their other backrowers around him.

I would step outside your top teams and give big PatrickT. to Wales. And give them Finn Russell too. They need more though.

The Willis brothers would come into my picture too. They need to be somewhere in the top 4/5 teams in the world. Need to think about that a bit more !

Great read on a blue skied and not too hot Christmas Eve here on the edge of the Toowoomba escarpment. Thanks for this great read, Harry, and for all the other great articles you have written this past year. I wish you and your family a happy and peaceful Christmas, and all of the very best going forward into 2025.

Yes, as 2025 and the Lions tour comes closer, anticipation, hope, and excitement are on a rising plane in this land down under. The win at Twickenham, and the tight fight in Dublin have sunk the cohort wanting the Lions to tour anywhere but Australia.

It has been an interesting year, 2024. The surge by the Boks in the EYOT has been frightening, the depth of reserves just astounding. They stand out with their front rowers above most of the rest, though the AB’s have fair stocks in that area, and France with Cyril Baille back would also be a handful.

Anyone who has studied the career of Joe Schmidt won’t have been surprised by the improvement in the WB’s. The organisation in defence, and at the breakdown, the attack very good at times, but not so always…..the Scottish game disappointed. Very important is the level of enthusiasm in the group. But I for one am over the moon to have beaten England at Twickenham(or whatever it is now called), to to be ahead of Ireland entering the 74th minute. No easy beats now, these WB’s, but I would not be getting ahead of ourselves and predicting a series win over the Lions.

I expected Ireland to go down 2 – 0 in SA, so the win there was a big bonus. The one ink blot in Rassie’s book of cunning schemes.

Personally I only attended two games this year. The Reds v the Chiefs at Suncorp, where I observed a number of players up close post game. I judged Tupou Vaai too light to make the AB’s. Wrong on that one by miles. Fraser McReight looked the goods…. more stocky and powerful this year. Got that one right.

The second game was a Top 14 clash between yo – yo team Perpignan, in and out of the top league with regularity, and fellow Pyrennean foothills team Pau, who equally regularly just stay up. I went there supporting Pau, along with only two others as far as could see…the game was in Perpignan ! There was a guy in a Bok shirt, not looking very Bok like, another in a Scottish shirt, might have been swayed if was was kilted. The other 9995 odd in the ground, a good enough natured odd assortment of locals, who howled at any ref decision against their team, rising to unbelievable levels when Pau had a goal kick. Rugby in the S. of France is a different experie 😊 nce to Suncorp.

Not as confident as last year, Geoff. More than just the past few weeks being a blip. I feel a slide started with the loss to England in last years 6N. France and England both have to come to Dublin. Scotland could be tricky in Edinburgh.

My pick at this stage would be France to win this year, maybe with a clean sweep.

The final Wrap for 2024, and the time to thank you, Geoff, for, in rain, hail snow or sunshine, always writing so eloquently for us, without fail, on a Monday morning. Enjoy the break, and to you and your family, a peaceful and happy Christmas.

Back later to join in the fun of commenting !

Yes, that is key, Don. Last year was good, but the defeat by the Chiefs in the play offs was damaging. I hope he does get Qld. into the top echelons of SRP, and to do that, defeating NZ teams will be very important. I feel he is best Australian coach we have now….I don’t rate either Larkham or McKellar above him.

If Joe does go after the Lions series, and the WB’s are in good shape, then there are good coaches overseas who might well be interested…Ronan O’Gara would be one of those, though his run at la Rochelle is stuttering this year.

Full of mistakes on both sides, that for me was, nonetheless, an hard and uncompromising game of rugby.

As an Irish born Australian, I had very mixed emotions watching the game. Marvelling at how one of the world’s best coaches has built a WB team that came close to beating one of the current top teams in the world. And that with so little time with these players, some of whom has so recently emerged from the depths of rugby hell.

How Ireland, with many players out of form, still managed to find ways to grind out a win, finding just enough players to play really well when it counted. Rugby is ranked fourth in terms of player numbers in Ireland, so to produce such good teams over the years is a feat to be proud of. In that ,
these two teams are similar, with rugby far from being Australia’s top game.

The Lions series is something to be looked forward too. And you put it so well, Geoff. “Importantly for rugby, Schmidt’s presence, along with his old assistant coach in Andy Farrell, now Lions coach, will ensure a far more respectful and enjoyable series. Competitive, absolutely, but because of their understanding and relationship, without any need to descend into acrimony and animosity.”

Ireland are taking a calculated risk in this game, leaving a small crack of daylight at the door. Prendergast at 10 against a rising WB team coached by Joe Schmidt could be a bridge too far at this stage for the young man. However this is a very good team that Ireland are putting on the field, with some very shrewd selections. And with the players available, it is quite probably the best team possible to select.

Shrewd selections are starting Aki and Henshaw in the centres, with Ringrose to finish. That would not be far of the Boks best, maybe even better. And Beirne at 6 puts another good all round player into the run on pack, with the the power of McCarthy and Ryan in the second row.

If Ireland play as they did last week, it will be a big ask for the WB’s to stay in the fight. Ireland will be happy not to face Skelton, especially the Leinster men. Sua’ali’i worries me, he is showing a tendency to use his shoulder too much in the tackle, and only partially wrap the arm. It might not be enough for some refs/TMO’s. And it was such a tackle that he got himself injured with last weekend.

Good luck to both teams….a big occasion for Irish rugby, great that it is the WB’s who are part of it.

“Maybe it’s not talent identification that’s the issue?” No, thats’s only part of it. It is coaching, seeing clearly the players strength’s and weaknesses. Skelton is the classic one there. His great strengths were never really considered seriously in Australia. His lack of pace round the field damned him. Saracens clearly saw his strengths, and developed them.

Moi aussi !

Nice work, Harry. Bundi Aki for the NH team maybe, but hard to leave Sione out with his grandmother watching !

He is a jumping option in the lineout though, Richard. Just not used much. Go and look at the end of the 2023 Cup final in Dublin when LAR narrowly beat Leinster. Skelton is used at the death in, from memory, three lineouts. All taken clean and hard, with his huge bulk a great maul base.

There is a lineout take by big Will in this :https://www.google.com/search?q=will+skelton+higlights+utube&oq=will+skelton+higlights+utube&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIGCAEQLhhA0gEJMTMxODZqMGo5qAIAsAIB&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:8891646c,vid:dMjxZ0b-vcc,st:0

Spot on, OM. There was a moment last time the WB’s played Ireland in Dublin, and ran them very close, when Skelton had a fearsome contact with three Irish tacklers. That was three defenders taken out. Often for La Rochelle, such moments lead to tries soon after. I think if Schmidt had more time with Skelton, the same would begin to happen for the WB’s.

You need to have a talk to the Saracens and La Rochelle coaching units, w. They might convince you otherwise to your comments on Will Skelton.

“Unlike the Englishman, he had great skills around the park too.” That line re Itoje will probably ruffle feathers.”

It will too ! Itoje is a funny one, flashes of brilliance, then don’t see him for long periods of a game. I wonder now if he will even make a Lions match day 23. If England have a poor 6N, he might not even be selected to tour.

Yes, knew you meant MZ 😊 And what praise, the Irish model so revered by the world’s best coach !

I actually think there are more promising young players coming through than many outside Ireland realise, JN. Some of these won’t get there, but then others will really blossom. I do worry though that Munster, and Ulster are not travelling well atm. The latter especially has historically been an Irish powerhouse, with strong schools feeding players into the Irish team. That is not happening now.

Very interesting article, JD. So many very astute comments and observations. only 17 comments so far….your article is worth far more. Pity sometimes our best commentators on Roar go missing at times.

I think that Razor has had a pretty good start really, despite there being many distractors. The EYOT looked a potential nightmare, but in the end the AB’s were probably the standout team after the Boks. Enough players were outstanding to give them a really solid base. The France result was outstanding in my view. Against that power up front, and skills and blinding pace and sheer guile on the wings, backed by the imperious goal kicking Ramos, most other teams would have been 20 odd points behind at final whistle.

My huge disappointment is ofc how badly Ireland played that Friday night. And that is not in any way to play down a great win by your lads. I woory about Ireland, they had that big win against Fiji, but there were still lapses they should not be having. Hansen is below where he was before injury, and Keenan has lost form. Front row is an achilles heel. But enough of Ireland.

I think going forward your AB’s will win many games, but the Boks and France will trouble them in key games. I’m no longer so confident that Ireland will.

“I see that a highly promising Irish ten has gone off to Scotland this year and the RFU have a £40m loss…”. That would be Ben Healy, JD ? He went over to Scotland last year, having previously turned down better money than he was getting with Munster. His mother is Scottish, thus he qualifies immediately. He was capped by Townsend 5 times, but this year has dropped of the radar.

The rise of Jack Crowley was the reason he left for Scotland. I rate him very highly, and was most upset he was not kept in Ireland. Ulster or Connacht would have been good fits for him, he is way above anything either has had at 10 for years now.

I guess now with the rise of Prendergast to stand as Crowley’s understudy, and wanting to play international rugby, he has made the right decision for his career. Just hope he comes back and replaces Russell in the longer term.

“Geoff, I am with you regarding the scrum. Penalising a weak scrum is like penalising a slow winger. Neither can help it. Nor have they infringed.”

Spot on comment, WJ. Most refs, imo, don’t understand the mechanics of scrummaging, and grossly ignore the laws…big one is no push of any sort before the ball is fed….that is, in law, when the scrum starts.

Edmed? Yes, he was very much in the conversations in Harry Jones articles. I don’t think he will feature against Ireland. A pity he has not been given a chance.

“Valetini was a spectator: no carries, no tackles, no breakdown threat, no nothing”. This comment has to be in jest ??

Scotland have a lot of aces too, N. One of the best centre pairings in the world, two dangerous wings, a great 10, abrasive and skilled pack. And ofc they sit at 6th in the world rankings, just knocked of 5th by an Argentine side that has had a very good year.

McReight, Tupou left out….I just assumed both injured, I had not seen anything on that. Jeez, that was bad. Maybe the aim was to rest them for Ireland ??