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| Twickenham from the Gods |
A weekend of incredible rugby action has just passed; involving a tri nation’s classic, the new boys of the premiership turning over Gloucester with a cracking result, a Twickenham double header and the women’s world cup final. I am going to post separately about the women’s game as I feel it deserves a bit of attention.
The Australia victory over South Africa in Bloemfontein, the first in 47 years was an example of how far the Aussies have come. Let’s be honest when I say how far they have come, even at their worst they have never been far off perfect. The quality of their back division has always made them an incredibly dangerous outfit. Certainly for stodgy great lumps who want to power through the game. Australia sits in a position where with one or two tweaks they could be the main threat to the hosts in New Zealand 2011. I wonder if South Africa has not peaked now and are on a downward slide. Whether they are an aging team in need of an overhaul or just simply a team out of sorts is up to the coaches and managers to decide and I suppose we will see the answers at the next fixture.
Now the Premiership and the big noise of the weekend were coming from the West Country....At Last!! The real South West of England has for so long been underrepresented at the top flight that you would not believe as an outsider it is such a rugby dominated area of England. A Welsh like ferocity and attitude to the game, is all around and the Cornwall v Devon rivalry is up there with the biggest in sport. Personally I desperately want to see a Cornish side in the premiership but we will have to wait a few more years yet I think. All that aside, for the new boys to turn over one of the dominant teams of the south west must feel great. They are very quick to talk down the win and they are right to do that, they have a long and tough road ahead, but what a start.
I was at Twickenham for the double header on Saturday and got to see some good rugby. The physicality of the premiership has gone up another level and the hits going in, in the early stages of the Saracens game were bone crunching and unforgiving. Schalk Britz played a sublime first half and his offloading game was the best I have seen for years. However I am guessing Saracens are going to face some tough challenges this year, their players are now known and as a result analysed. They will struggle to maintain the impact they made last year and as the second half showed when Irish put numbers and pressure onto the likes of Britz their impact was nullified. I still think they are going to be there at the end but it will be a harder test this season. Steffen Armatige was out of this world for Irish a real powerhouse performance from the little barrel of a flanker. I really hope England persevere with him in some capacity. He looked fitter than ever and stronger; a result of some hard work in the off season and an example of his desire to work on his game. Wasps v Harlequins was another battle really even contest a début for the Welsh bad boy Andy Powell saw him score with some great support work and to be honest the game sort of fizzled out towards the end. Now that is a bit of an excuse to be honest for the fact my attention fizzled out and the tray chucking Mexican wave was far more fun!! I have to add a few beers also affected my capacity for reasoned analysis at this point. However all in all a good day, and a good scoring weekend in the premiership. If the opening scores are anything to go by the title and the relegation are not certainties......Though much as I hate to say it, I am tipping Leeds for the drop.
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