Autumn Nations Series Week 4 | Recap And Key Takeaways
Autumn Nations Series Week 4 | Recap And Key Takeaways
Week 4 of the 2024 Autumn Nations Series delivered thrilling rugby action, from France's dominance to Ireland's resurgence, while rising stars shined.
Week 4 of the 2024 Autumn Nations Series has been and gone, with some fascinating subplots from the top level of international rugby.
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Getting things underway Friday evening, one of rugby’s fiercest rivalries renewed for the third time in 2024, as Argentina arrived in Paris to face France.
For Los Pumas, this final test of 2024 had the potential to cap off a historic year on the perfect note.
Unfortunately for Felipe Contepomi’s side, they faced a French side that looked to be back to its best following last year’s World Cup heartbreak. In truth, while Los Pumas fronted up, they simply could not live with Les Bleu's tempo, as Antoine Dupont and co. pulled off a 37-23 win.
Moving to Saturday, where an under-pressure Irish side responded to Fijian chat of them being vulnerable with their best performance of November to date.
Smashing their visitors off the park, Andy Farrell’s side secured a 52-17 victory, with their attacking game clicking for the first time since July.
Most pleasing for the Irish was the emergence of several young players as key operators with whom Farrell will rebuild his squad.
Front and center was the halfback pairing of Craig Casey and Sam Prendergast keeping the Fijians on the back foot with a combination of clever kicks, sniping runs and bullet passes.
In the pack, debutants Gus McCarthy and Cormac Izuchukwu both were exceptional and look ready to contend for more game time come the Six Nations.
Shifting from Dublin to Cardiff, the Springboks completed an unbeaten trio of UK contests with a shellacking of Wales.
In truth, this match played out exactly how many would’ve expected, with the world champions physically dominating their hosts from the off.
Despite the 45-12 score, there were positives to take for Wales, which fronted up and showed pride in their shirt with a huge defensive shift.
For the Boks, they will have learned little from the experience other than handing the impressive Cameron Hanekom a debut early in the second half.
Concluding Saturday’s action was the last match of the All Blacks’ 2024 season, as they faced a vastly improved Italian outfit.
Coming away with a 29-11 victory, which does not accurately reflect just how close the match was, Scott Robertson will be happy with the win but realize that this performance was a step back from what his side had shown so far this November.
Italy, on the flipside, had several opportunities to truly close the gap on the visitors, but will take solace from their pack’s ability to match the Kiwis, while superstar fullback Ange Capuozzo was superb.
Finalizing the last full week of action were two Sunday clashes, as Scotland hosted Australia, and England welcomed Eddie Jones and his Japan side to the Allianz Stadium.
In the first of the two matches, Scotland brought down a curtain on the Wallabies’ hopes of a Grand Slam tour with a comprehensive 27-13 victory at a rocking Murrayfield.
Weathering an early storm, the Scots grew into the contest, and when captain Sione Tuipulotu, who was facing the country of his birth, scored the opening try, the momentum swung. This score was followed by an injury to breakthrough star Joseph Sua’ali’, who departed with what appeared to be a broken wrist following a tackle on Tuipulotu.
Finally, England secured a first victory of the Autumn window with a blitzing of Japan 59-14 in what was the latest in a run of heavy defeats for Jones’ side.
Overall, neither side will have taken much from this clear mismatch, with questions still persisting around England’s ability to beat big teams when the pressure comes on, while Japan looked every bit a Tier 2 nation that is far removed from its dizzying heights of 2019.
Now left with just one match to play, as Ireland hosts Australia in a match that falls outside of the official test window, here are the key talking points from the 2024 Autumn Nations Series:
Season Alignment Non-Negotiable
Rugby’s longest-held issue remains at the forefront of the public’s consciousness, and its results have never been more drastic than in Week 1 and Week 2 of the series.
Clearly, all of the rugby world should be playing at the same time to ensure as much parity as possible.
From a sheer sporting standpoint, this is an obvious issue, but when it comes to player welfare, it is even more important.
For an American fan, imagine the NFL said to the NFC teams that they could start their season a month before the AFC sides. This is essentially where we are when the Southern Hemisphere sides make their long trip north.
At the same time, fans of the southern persuasion will argue that the issues are similar for them in the July window, but this is not quite accurate.
In that window, the Super Rugby final takes place two weeks prior, thus ensuring a full season of competitive action has taken place before the internationals.
South Africa and Argentina's players are the ones who have aligned themselves mostly with the Northern Hemisphere season and were the two teams that ended their July campaigns with a split series.
Finally, the gap between the Six Nations, which in 2024 ended on March 16, and the summer series, which started on July 6, was the best part of four months apart, while The Rugby Championship ended on Sept. 28, just over a month out from the opening round of the Autumn Nations Series (excluding New Zealand’s clash with Japan a week prior).
All in all, one can see how this skews the general makeup of the international game, and from a wider point of view, one could make a valid argument that this benefits the Southern Hemisphere at World Cup time.
Next Generation Of Rugby Talent Takeover
Across the board, this November was one of the most exciting in recent memory for the sheer number of new talents who burst onto the scene.
Stealing the show was New Zealand’s exceptional backrower Wallace Sititi, who took the international game by storm in 2024. Still just 22-years-old, Sititi hit the test arena as a fully-formed international and appears to be the latest in a long line of prolific All Blacks backrows.
Elsewhere, Ireland’s Sam Prendergast, Gus McCarthy, Thomas Clarkson and Cormac Izuchukwu all flashed their immense talent.
For the world champions, the long-awaited debut of Vodacom Bulls star Cameron Hanekom went off without a hitch, as he looked every bit the prospect he had been hyped up to be.
Other players who already were firmly in the international arena, but who took major strides in November include French flyer Louis Bielle-Biarrey, scrumhalf Nolann Le Gerrac, England backrow Chandler Cunningham-South, Wallabies league convert Joseph Sua’ali’I and Los Pumas No. 8 Joaquín Oviedo. These names are just the tip of the iceberg of what has the feeling of a golden generation of talent that is ready to take over.
Nothing Between The Top Eight
Scanning through the World Rugby rankings, rugby fans are reminded that we are in a period of incredibly tight competition.
From the top-ranked Springboks to eighth-place Australia, the margin between the teams is rather fine.
The top four of South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France all would be capable of winning a World Cup tomorrow, while the next four sides all would be in with more than an outside bet.
Behind this group, there is little to choose between nine through 20 in the rankings, albeit when fully firing, Italy and Fiji are closer to the top eight than their rankings would indicate. In this instance, the words of The Office’s Andy Bernard ring true, “I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you've actually left them.”
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