The South strikes back and Ireland sink the Pumas as the Autumn Internationals end

Willem Alberts Photo from http://bit.ly/hhcXeg

Italy 24 - 16 Fiji


Scotland 19 - 16 Samoa

England 11 - 21 South Africa

Wales 25 - 37 New Zealand

France 16 - 59 Australia

Ireland 29 - 9 Argentina

The one consistent factor of these Autumn internationals has been the inconsistency of all the teams, apart of course from the men in black. England were sublime against Australia but rubbish against the Boks. The Boks in turn went stumbling through their tour until they came right against England. The Aussies were sublime against The AB’s and France, and dire against England. Scotland were smashed and then came back to beat the Boks. That must explain my crappy success rate in predicting the results.

England 11 - 21 South Africa

There’s something special about Twickenham, the huge genial crowd, the roar as England runs in, the crowd standing for the anthems. We got there early and caught a glimpse of the players arriving off the bus – they’re all bloody HUGE! I was amazed at the Springbok support, they could have been 20% of the crowd. I didn’t have much hope for the Boks, after they tripped up against the Scots, and in the full expectation that England were going to pick up where they left off against Australia.

Of course, when you’re expecting a pasting you can only be pleasantly surprised. England were dismal I’m afraid, they just couldn’t seem to keep hold of the ball - it was butterfingers-r-us pretty well the whole match. Their scrum didn’t cause the Boks any problems at all and the attacking flair of the backs was strangled by mistakes. The Boks looked bigger, stronger fitter and hungrier and could have won by more.

It’s a young England team with huge potential, they can bank this experience and learn from their mistakes.

I was enormously impressed to see the Boks playing it so smart (not words that readily fit together), pinning back England in the corners and running it wide at the right time. Good run out for Mvovo, with an embarrassingly easy try to celebrate.

The whole experience was a reminder to me about why I love rugby, a hard clean game, respect for the players, respect for the opposing supporters, a massive good natured and well behaved crowd , and to top it for the me, the Boks coming right.

Wales 25 - 37 New Zealand

Classic start to the match here – 8 minutes of tennis then into the game. No minutes silence for the mining tragedy, no anthems , no haka, no early All Black try. Cheers BBC2! After that we got a ding dong end to end match, as a slightly sub par New Zealand subdued a rampant welsh side. They are going to have to send Dan Carter back to the factory, was that 3 or 4 missed kicks? Penalties kept Wales in the game and they looked poised to do some damage after the minor miracle of an All Black yellow card. But the adage – don’t make us angry – you won’t like us when we’re angry – was never truer as the 14 All Blacks rallied and scored two tries. Wales finished the stronger of the two teams and scored a well worked they.

But you have to hand it to New Zealand, another Grand Slam tour, world record for Dan Carter, these are the men who set the bar in rugby.

Ireland 29 - 9 Argentina

I was snow bound nowhere near a TV at Heathrow for this match, so I’m going to have to bluff it I’m afraid. We scored two trys, notched up a record win over the Argentines and still no one sounded all that happy. Are we setting ourselves high standards?

Last week was the final for Ireland, it was always going to be difficult to pick up the tempo again, especially against this bogey team. And playing it at sub zero temperatures can’t have helped either. A win is a win is a win, a good finish to Autumn, now bring on the 6 Nations! Good to see Paul O’Connell back in club action as well.