Dwyer's View

It was a fascinating competition. there were some great games and some great performances, as you would expect from the three top ranked teams in world rugby.

For me, the tournament was marked by two outstanding facts.

South Africa have moved forward significantly. their game has blossomed – some might find this claim surprising.

New Zealand clearly see that their path forward is by way of an expansive approach with the ball in hand.

South  Africa.

they perhaps had the advantage of an early season series against a very good lions team and, tellingly, this enabled them to sort out their selection problems. They were, luckily, forced to select Heimlich Brussow and this was a blessing.

I said that they blossomed and i believe that they are a much better team now than they were in rwc2007. Brussow completes their pack, enabling them to better cope with all tactical approaches to the game. Pierre Spies is available again, although with his scrum struggling frequently, he was not seen to his absolute potential. “The beast” Mtawirira has developed very well and can only get better.

Morne Steyn was eventually selected and is beginning to look a more complete fly-half than we all originally imagined, given his freakish ability with the boot. the outstanding centre pairing of Jacque Fourie and Jean de Villiers was back in top form.

They are outstanding at lineout and restart. the scrum is not great but adequate. They have huge pace all around the park, which ideally supports their fantastic kicking game. Can there have ever been a better kick-chase than that of Bryan Habana?

Add their obvious physicality to their pace, and at times they were irresistible. They scored some cracking tries. Sometimes from precision plays from first-phase, at other times from a sequence of machine-gun rapid phase plays.

They were the clear and worthy winners.

New  Zealand.

Lose three on the trot against the old foe and you’re not going to be top of the popularity list at home in New Zealand. The all blacks are judged harshly by press and public alike. never mind that they played the Springboks twice away from home, or that Dan Carter didn’t start the tournament, or that Richie McCaw was injured and late starting the season, or that Ali Williams didn’t play at all. Never mind that their no.1 opponent was red hot. If you don’t win, you’re no good!

Some kiwis see this as good for their team; “keeps them under pressure!”  It smacks of arrogance to me. I always want to see a healthy respect for my opponents, when it’s earned.

This New Zealand team, however, also started to develop as the season progressed. their obvious desire to play an expansive game with the ball in hand was hampered by what i saw as an absence of quality technique in some of the fundamentals - catch &pass, accurate support, straight running, to name a few. By the end of the tournament, however, their game had a decidedly better shape and the return of Carter helped.

Some lesser-caped players started, belatedly, to emerge and will make selections easier for the end-of-season internationals. Kieran Read and Isaia Toeava look world class, while Corey Jane will keep the two Fijian wingers honest.

If they can sort out their lineout – Ali Williams will obviously help – and get Tony Woodcock’s left hand off the ground at every scrum, they will be right up there with the springboks.

Australia.

After showing some clear improvement at the end of last year, the Wallabies promised much – at least to us die-hard supporters!  Alas, this was not to be realized.

About the best i can say is that they were inconsistent. They played very well in Brisbane to clearly defeat a great Springbok team, but were poor from start to finish - actually very poor at the finish – in the final match against New Zealand in Wellington.

The all blacks were underdone and there for the taking in Auckland in the opening match of the tournament, but we were not up to it. This was the first indication that the Wallabies had gone backwards from last season, but it was not to be the last.

We showed flashes of attacking ability. When the Perth match against South Africa was already lost, we emerged from under a rock to produce three cracking tries. Too late guys, the time to play is when it’s nil-nil! We played very well in Brisbane, but that was it.

Often an emerging team with great potential is inconsistent. “They have real ability, but when things go against them, they don’t have the experience to hold it all together.” I’d like to be able to say this about this Wallabies team, but i can’t. i just don’t see enough substance. I don’t see enough World XV selections – actual or potential.

Ben Robinson, Berrick Barnes and Tatafu Polota-nau, when finally selected, were all consistently up to the required standard. Matt Giteau showed some individual flashes, but no attack can possibly function with a fly-half running across field like this!

I see a massive absence of quality technique in most of the fundamentals of the game, and I don’t see any improvement in any of them. I have questioned the application of the coaching staff in this regard, and I do so again!

Selections at times bordered on the irresponsible and this must be addressed immediately. The best way to prepare for the future is to get the present sorted. we need quality performances – win or lose – featuring quality technique. a well prepared team will go onto the pitch confident of their ability to compete with any challenge. I’m just not seeing this at the moment.

Our defence used to be top-class. Unfortunately, the last quarter of the tournament showed that this also had gone backwards.