Southern Hempisphere v Nothern Hempisphere

sandyfordboi

I was just wondering do any of you think the northern teams will ever be able to beat the southern teams on a consistent basis?

after watching the 3 test matches on Saturday the gulf in class is still pretty big and when you consider most of the players off SA NZ and OZ all played super rugby the week before and where even missing important players and still looked like they had way to much for the best that england, ireland and wales had to offer!

does the future bode well?

irishbucsfan

I thought Wales and England were quite close to their opponents. Wales played badly. by their standards, lost their best back, and still could have won.

matthew8

Only Scotland and France. Wales and England usually put on a good show too.

sandyfordboi

irishbucsfan wrote: »

I thought Wales and England were quite close to their opponents. Wales played badly. by their standards, lost their best back, and still could have won.

mmm maybe but they had more time to prepare than Australia and their players seemed more fresh! maybe it would be better to wait and see how the second tests go!?

Klunk_NZ

The big 3 are better by a large margin, and they play eachother a lot every year which means they are playing harder games. Having said that the Welsh with Gatland behind them seem to be playing a style of rugby which isn't outdated so there is hope, just need to utilise numbers 12-15 more on attack. But keep the power displays upfront.

justsomebloke

truthfully I wouldn't read anything into any of the results of this years tour. The NH teams have just finished their season and have been playing rugby since the World Cup build up games so nearly 12 months of straight rugby.

Ye chances are the NZ Ireland result probably wouldn't of changed much but I think the England and Wales game could of gone differently

Klunk_NZ

I would love to see more NH players playing in the super 15.
NZ/Aus/South Africa have had like one week to prepare a team on the other side of that coin. I think Aussie are there for the taking if you can shut down Pocock/Genia like NZ did in the WC semi-final, South Africa I'm unsure of how they will progress.

Clearlier

sandyfordboi wrote: »

I was just wondering do any of you think the northern teams will ever be able to beat the southern teams on a consistent basis?

after watching the 3 test matches on Saturday the gulf in class is still pretty big and when you consider most of the players off SA NZ and OZ all played super rugby the week before and where even missing important players and still looked like they had way to much for the best that england, ireland and wales had to offer!

does the future bode well?

England consistently beat the SH sides home and away leading up to the 2003 world cup. Think that they might have been unbeaten by them for 3 years and 13 or 14 games (espnscrum would have the stats if you wanted exact numbers). I think that they have the capability to do it again.

France have won a number of games against SH sides but they are utterly inconsistent. I've seen them win with scratch sides and lose with really good sides. Consistency isn't really a word you can use to describe the French rugby team.

EOS had a reasonably home record against SH sides (well Aus and SA anyway).

I don't see the 6 nations team dominating the tri-nations teams although I wonder if Argentina's arrival in the latter competition might not actually drag standards down slightly over time.

Klunk_NZ

Clearlier wrote: »

England consistently beat the SH sides home and away leading up to the 2003 world cup. Think that they might have been unbeaten by them for 3 years and 13 or 14 games (espnscrum would have the stats if you wanted exact numbers). I think that they have the capability to do it again.

France have won a number of games against SH sides but they are utterly inconsistent. I've seen them win with scratch sides and lose with really good sides. Consistency isn't really a word you can use to describe the French rugby team.

EOS had a reasonably home record against SH sides (well Aus and SA anyway).

I don't see the 6 nations team dominating the tri-nations teams although I wonder if Argentina's arrival in the latter competition might not actually drag standards down slightly over time.

Being desperate to get into a competition Argentina have to play their strongest team every week. They couldn't say tactically rest key players against the All Blacks to have a real crack at Australia the following week. Our rotate the squad in world cup year.
I hope this clause keeps them decent.

bilston

justsomebloke wrote: »

truthfully I wouldn't read anything into any of the results of this years tour. The NH teams have just finished their season and have been playing rugby since the World Cup build up games so nearly 12 months of straight rugby.

Ye chances are the NZ Ireland result probably wouldn't of changed much but I think the England and Wales game could of gone differently

The problem is that the SH teams usually manage to win more often than not when they play in the NH at the end of their season.

If England and France had the same domestic system that we (and the SH) have in Ireland they'd be near unstoppable at test level IMO.

bilston

Clearlier wrote: »

I don't see the 6 nations team dominating the tri-nations teams although I wonder if Argentina's arrival in the latter competition might not actually drag standards down slightly over time.

Hopefully it will strengthen Argentina. If the results of their U20s so far in the JWC is anything to go by then Argentina have a very bright future.

Klunk_NZ

It's been nearly 3 years to the day since AB's lost to a NH team. Those French again -_-. Been like a week for Australia lololol

bilston

Klunk_NZ wrote: »

It's been nearly 3 years to the day since AB's lost to a NH team. Those French again -_-. Been like a weeks for Australia lololol

And they lost to the worst team of the lot.

Klunk_NZ

Dunno how Aussie keep having these massive blunders and maintain 3rd. Samoa Last year was incredible enough.

Tox56

NZ's last loss to France could have been a lot more recent, if they had won that final I would have been fascinated to see the reaction in NZ

Klunk_NZ

Tox56 wrote: »

NZ's last loss to France could have been a lot more recent, if they had won that final I would have been fascinated to see the reaction in NZ

Sack Henry/Hansen, Weepu would have been almost exiled for blowing the easy penalty shots and conversions to give us the clear lead and allow us more freedom.

matthew8

justsomebloke wrote: »

truthfully I wouldn't read anything into any of the results of this years tour. The NH teams have just finished their season and have been playing rugby since the World Cup build up games so nearly 12 months of straight rugby.

Ye chances are the NZ Ireland result probably wouldn't of changed much but I think the England and Wales game could of gone differently

The Wales game would not have gone differently at least. Some Australian players, like Berrick Barnes (who played every minute of each game) were playing their third game in a week.

JustinDee

matthew8 wrote: »

The Wales game would not have gone differently at least. Some Australian players, like Berrick Barnes (who played every minute of each game) were playing their third game in a week.

They played TWO games in six days, as did the Ireland team.

Fishooks12

France deserved to win that game but were undone by a cop out display from Joubart

In saying that NZ were the better side throughout the competition

cptcrowbar

JustinDee wrote: »

They played TWO games in six days, as did the Ireland team.

2/6/2012 'Tahs v Hurricanes

5/6/2012 AUS v SCO

9/6/2012 AUS v WAL

That's three.

Monty Burnz

Klunk_NZ wrote: »

I would love to see more NH players playing in the super 15.
NZ/Aus/South Africa have had like one week to prepare a team on the other side of that coin. I think Aussie are there for the taking if you can shut down Pocock/Genia like NZ did in the WC semi-final, South Africa I'm unsure of how they will progress.

Unfortunately the S15 just couldn't afford them even if they wanted them (which is debatable).

cptcrowbar

Monty Burnz wrote: »

Unfortunately the S15 just couldn't afford them even if they wanted them (which is debatable).

NZ clubs couldn't. The other two can.

JustinDee

cptcrowbar wrote: »

2/6/2012 'Tahs v Hurricanes

5/6/2012 AUS v SCO

9/6/2012 AUS v WAL

That's three.

I thought the poster was referring to the RWC warm-ups. Apols.