Mind the Gap

Much has been made of the fact that the top three southern hemisphere teams – South Africa, New Zealand and Australia – on Saturday all lost to northern hemisphere teams on the same day for the first time since 2002.

There are those heralding a shift in the balance of power – a view I think is a little short-sighted and premature. 

The November internationals in 2021 have taken place under a unique set of circumstances, with the touring teams having been cooped up in their respective Covid bubbles for months. Certainly the All Blacks looked jaded, whilst Australia – missing a few key Japan-based players – appeared to have regressed from the improvements made earlier this year under Dave Rennie.

Only South Africa, of the three southern hemisphere giants, maintained their form – perhaps easier to do with their power-based and aerial gameplan which is just so difficult to play against.

I don’t think the results can be ignored entirely. Although we will only really be able to judge whether the balance of power has shifted come the next Work Cup in 2023, I think we can safely say that, right now, the gap between the hemispheres is smaller than it has been for quite some time. 

All 5 of France, Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales are uber-competitive right now, and are at least on a par with South Africa, New Zealand and Australia insofar as predicting a result between any of these nations is by no means a sure thing.

How long this state of affairs might last is anyone’s guess – there is much rugby to play between now and 2023 – but as a snapshot of where we are right now, any gap between the hemispheres is infinitesimally small.

Total Flanker – the older I get, the better I was