Rugby Weekend | 5 Highlights

For the most part, this past weekend’s rugby action consisted of international rugby and the Test matches produced a ton of highlights as the Northern Hemisphere’s best faced off against the Southern Hemisphere powerhouses.

Siya Kolisi’s Star Refuses to Flicker

SIya Kolisi’s rag to riches story has been told in many parts, usually, its narrative overtakes what he primarily is – a brilliant rugby player who has earned his stripes. He has shown up in a big way in 2021 for the Springboks and he didn’t look like letting up against a stubborn Scottish side.

Even the World Rugby Player of the Year snub will do nothing to dispel how immense Kolisi has been this year and he is almost certain to be crowned SA’s best which would be richly deserved for a player who has shone as bright as ever this year.

Ireland and New Zealand Serve Up the Usual

Ireland-New Zealand is becoming a classic battle, seldom has a Test match between these two nations failed to deliver a scintillating display of rugby and Saturday was no different as Ireland outlasted the All Blacks to win 29-20.

The clash is now probably starting to rank alongside the Southern Hemisphere derbies where Ireland is the only Northern Hemisphere side who are able to consistently push the All Blacks and get victories over the men in black.

Eddie Jones Finally Embracing Youthful Flair?

7 minutes into the clash between England and Australia Marcus Smith received a pass from Owen Farrell and he deftly found Freddie Steward who ran a brilliant line to score his first England try. It was an indication of what might be a slight change in approach from Eddie Jones.

He looks to be finally embracing the talents of mavericks like Steward and Smith even though they might not be typically players attuned with his style. Though it was still a typical Eddie Jones pragmatic strategy, he is allowing the talent to thrive within his structure instead of drifting away from the players’ core strength.

Wallabies Missing Brilliant 10-12 Axis

On the other side of the coin in that Test match, Australia is struggling to repeat their success from earlier in the Rugby Championship. They have lost to both Scotland and England in the last 2 weeks and might struggle against Wales this week.

They are clearly missing the Japan-based duo of Quade Cooper and Samu Kerevi. Kerevi was yesterday announced as 1 of 4 nominees for World Rugby Player of the Year underlining just how brilliant he has been. Cooper was also pulling the strings from flyhalf for the Wallabies and his absence has been felt.

Ellis Jenkins Continues Remarkable Comeback

Ellis Jenkins had been sidelined with injury for 26 months before making his return to the field earlier this year, he made his Welsh return against the Springboks 2 weeks ago and last week was picked to captain Wales in the absence of Alun Wyn Jones against Fiji.

It was a ringing endorsement of his leadership credentials especially when one considers how long he has been out of the Welsh setup. His side saw off Fiji in a scrappy affair marking his captaincy debut with a victory. His comeback has astounded most, but he continues to thrive even more which is pretty impressive for someone who has been out of the game for that long.