As the calendar draws to a close for all but 2 nations, we were treated with another enthralling round of international rugby. Wales showed some signs of life against a reeling All Blacks. South Africa reaffirmed their dominance in a fixture they’ve struggled in of late. France and Australia gave us an exciting 12 try thriller, and Argentina nearly claimed another huge scalp, just for England to hold on.
So, what did we learn about each of these teams and what are the key takeaways?
Wales 26 – 52 New Zealand
Wales:
Improved performance but discipline and inability to secure the ball in the air is still holding Wales back
A much-improved performance from Wales this week and up until about the 50th minute they were right in this game. Ultimately, whilst they cleaned up some areas of their game, it was the same issues that have plagued them all Autumn that prevented them from claiming a famous victory. Discipline was poor, even if they were harshly refereed, and Wales struggled to regain possession in the air once more. It meant they were constantly having to defend and, in the end, the sheer number of attacking opportunities New Zealand had were too much. When you concede 2 yellow cards and 14 penalties, compared to just 4 from New Zealand, it’s very hard to win rugby matches.
Joe Hawkins showing why he can be the future for Wales at 12
On the positive side, Wales showed some good signs in attack, the centres functioning well to create space for Tom Rogers to grab a hat trick. Joe Hawkins looked every bit the player we were excited about 2 years ago. His miss pass to create Rogers’ third score was perhaps the pass of the weekend. He has great vision and a unique ability to put players into space with his passing game. Wales need to figure out who are going to be the players that will carry this team forward now and cement starting roles. You can see Hawkins and Dan Edwards becoming those core playmakers for the next 2 World Cups.
Young forwards step up and front up for Wales
Up front the likes of Daf Jenkins, Adam Beard and Alex Mann stepped up once more. Plus we got just a glimpse of why Welsh rugby is so excited by Morgan Morse. In his 12 minutes, he had 5 carries, showing a willingness to lead this pack forward, and was unlucky not to win a couple jackal turnovers. If I were Tandy, I wouldn’t be patient any longer with the young No 8. I’d start him next week and let him show us what he’s got.
New Zealand:
Good win but game management still needs to improve for New Zealand
So they scored 52 points and won comfortably in the end, but you can still see signs of why they aren’t the all-conquering team we’re used to seeing from the All Blacks. I feel like for large parts of that game they overplayed. Early on they were box kicking well and winning the aerial contest. They went away from that though, instead choosing to run the ball from their own half more. Perhaps Wales didn’t scare them enough, but the game management would need to be better against top teams.
Star outside backs made big impacts
New Zealand have star players and a number of them showed out on Saturday. The back three in particular, with Ruben Love, Caleb Clarke and Sevu Reece all scoring from their ability to beat players one on one. Will Jordan showed his class, particularly in the air and Fainga’anuku looked unstoppable in space to set up Clarke’s second try.
Bulldozing carries from standout player Taukei’aho
A shout out as well needs to go to Samisoni Taukei’aho who was an absolute wrecking ball all game. Couple his bumping off of numerous would-be tacklers, with a perfect record at set piece and for me he was the man of the match. Lots to work on for New Zealand in 2026 but the talent is there for this team. They’ll need to improve if they’re to deliver a result from their tour to South Africa.
Ireland 13 – 24 South Africa
Ireland:
Simply couldn’t cope with the power and physicality of the Boks
Ireland haven’t been known for having a monster pack the last few years but they’ve been very physical. On Saturday though, despite having test Lions littered throughout their forwards, they just couldn’t cope with the force of the Springboks. The scrum was the main issue and South Africa’s ability to win a penalty from almost every pack down made it almost impossible for Ireland to get a hold of the game. Losing James Ryan’s weight early on was a factor but they were way behind the Boks in power.
Self-inflicted errors and ill-discipline made a tough task a whole lot tougher
The headlines from this one are of course around the sin binnings. Ireland played large parts of that game with 14, 13 and even as few as 12 players on the field. This was partly due to the Springbok’s dominance and the pressure they put on Ireland. But there were also a couple moments of stupidity that Ireland brought upon themselves. The James Ryan red card was a ridiculous act, he literally broke every breakdown law possible. Then the Crowley yellow was again, totally unnecessary (on a side note, I don’t think hands in the ruck on the halfway line when there isn’t a dangerous attacking opportunity should be a yellow card offense, but the decision was consistent with the one against Codie Taylor last week). So much of test rugby is about not beating yourself and Ireland failed to do that.
Something to be said for Ireland somehow being in the game to the end
If you didn’t know the score and you had just read the paragraphs above, you would think South Africa won by 20+. The fact that Ireland were meters away from making it a one score game in the last couple minutes is somewhat remarkable. We can’t overlook the problems from Ireland’s side, but they also deserve a lot of credit for being as competitive as they were. Shows that deep down they still have the qualities of a top team.
South Africa:
Springboks performing at incredibly high level
This November, the best team in the world have blown me away with how good they’ve been. Yes, we all know this is an incredibly powerful team with world class players, but their accuracy in everything they do is so exceptional. Even when they’ve been a man down, they are still so hard to break down. They make you work so hard for every little gain and then have the game breaking players to score quickly themselves. This is a really high functioning team and they showed it again in Dublin.
Sacha – Willemse axis continuing to show there’s still even more to come from this team
Having an elite running threat at fly half is such a dangerous attacking weapon. It forces the defence to defend every space on the field and opens up opportunities for others. The challenge though is that you need your fly half to run the attack and that doesn’t work when he’s at the bottom of a ruck. Having Willemse there to step in and take control when needed has freed up Feinberg-Mngomezulu to attack the defence and utilise his unique skillset. This has added a new layer to South Africa’s attack that shows the best team in the world still has the ability to get even better.
Will they be disappointed they let Ireland hang in there?
I’ve been very positive about this South Africa performance, and rightly so because a trip to Dublin is one of the toughest tests in rugby. You do have to question though why this game was as close as it was when South Africa had so much dominance and Ireland had so many numerical disadvantages. For all their good, South Africa lost 19 turnovers, which is a lot by any standards. For context, New Zealand and Wales had 14 lost turnovers combined in their game. At least Rassie will have something to keep his players humble with this week.
France 48 – 33 Australia
France:
Louis Bielle-Biarrey showed why he arguably should have won World Player of the Year
The award may have been handed to the exceptional Malcolm Marx just before LBB took the field against Australia, but it’s hard to argue anyone has had a bigger impact on matches than the Bordelais try machine. He set up Depoortere for the opening try, created a sensational try for himself with a deft chip and swerving side steps, then dotted down for a second after a headline grabbing break by debutant Kalvin Gourgues. What a final pass by the way! If his 8 try 6 Nations campaign wasn’t a distant memory by now, I wonder whether World Rugby’s panel might have chosen a different Player of the Year.
Kelvin Gourgues steals headlines, as another talented youngster emerges from the Top 14
France’s conveyor belt of talent has been working overtime recently. Rugby’s booming in the nation and Gourgues is just another in a long list of exciting young players who look to take France forward as they continue their search for a World Cup triumph. As evidenced by the competitiveness of a French “B team” in their summer tour to New Zealand, the depth they’re creating is enviable. On Sunday it was the turn of Toulouse’s 20 year old centre to sear through the Aussie midfield before fizzing the ball 20 yards across to Bielle-Biarrey, without breaking stride, for the winger to finish. You can’t help but love how his face lit up with excitement as he left Australian defenders in the dust.
France need Dupont back
Whilst France certainly had their moments of magic in this one, on the way to scoring 48 points, you still feel they look a little inconsistent without their talismanic scrum half. Dupont is the focal point of France’s attack, playmaking and controlling proceedings, whilst also being a key cog in what is generally a tactically excellent kicking game. Without him they’ve still been able to create but just not quite as much. And between their moments of brilliance they can lack accuracy and clarity without Dupont. This team should aspire to be the best in the world and they’ve shown they are currently a level below the imperious Springboks. To make that step up, getting the world’s best player back is crucial.
Australia:
Australia will be happy to send their young 10s back to super rugby to learn before the internationals start back up
It’s been the story of much of this season for Australia. When Noah Lolosio went down with a neck injury in their opening fixture against Fiji, Australia have been forced to turn to youngsters at rugby’s most challenging and important position. James O’Conner has provided some invaluable performances, leading this team to a standout victory against the Springboks. However Australia have largely opted to prepare for the future and throw in the youngsters. They aren’t the only team to have done this, with South Africa, England, Ireland and Wales all playing guys that are 23 or younger at flyhalf this season, with mixed results. The difference is, those players are all high-end talents who look like the future for their nations. Australia don’t know which of these guys, if any, are going to be the future flyhalves for the Wallabies. Ultimately, a season of further maturing in Super Rugby will do them all a bit of good.
Glimmers of hope but Australia are still a cut below the top teams
Australia certainly started fast, scoring within 3 minutes. They showed a number of positive signs in attack, managing to cut France open on multiple occasions. There is no doubt that they have some great players, and guys that can create a bit of magic. Take Max Jorgensen’s try for example (crazy to think he’s only 21 still). At the same time though, France were able to score a number of quick tries and take this game away from the Wallabies. It just shows that there’s that little bit of quality the Wallabies are still missing. Winless in 4, this has certainly been a disappointing November for Australia.
England 27 – 23 Argentina
England:
The Smiths may be the future but Ford is the now
At 32, George Ford isn’t going to be around forever and at some point Fin and Marcus Smith will fully take over that 10 jersey, but for now Ford is one of England’s most influential players. He brings a calmness to the side, utilising all his experience to guide this side expertly around the park. I would say England are lowkey one of the least adventurous sides in the top 10. They rarely overplay and patiently wait for you to make a mistake before pouncing. So much of that is down to the guidance and leadership of Ford, who just knows how to win test matches. He makes this England team function and has been a key driver of their success this November. I think this may just be the best version of George Ford we’ve seen.
Max Ojomoh has earned a shot to make that 12 jersey his own
What a way to make your Twickenham debut! First he anticipated and pounced on a loose flick back from Argentina to race away under the posts. Moments later he’s putting in a cross kick for Feyi-Waboso to score, then finishes off a hat trick of try involvements when his offload puts Slade over. Elsewhere he showed decent physicality and carrying, doing the basics well. The 12 shirt is still an area where England are weak. They lack elite level talent in that spot, so as we go into the next block of PREM fixtures and look towards the 6 Nations, the battle between Dingwall and Ojomoh for the start against Wales will be a key storyline to watch.
England’s depth was tested and they scrapped through
England have picked up a couple of injuries at this point and against Argentina it wasn’t quite as strong a side as the one that faced the All Blacks. They had to trust in a couple backups to step up and it proved a much more challenging task then they expected. Although they spent most of the game in control on the scoreboard, Argentina very easily could have won that at the end. If they had managed to get over the England line in the dying moments, I wonder what the discussion around this game would be. I doubt the English press would be sympathetic to a team that blew a 14-point lead at home. In the end though, England have learnt how to win, and they’re doing it. And ultimately that’s all that matters.
Argentina:
Argentina are still running hot and cold
They don’t make it easy for themselves, do they? After coming back from 21-0 down last week, they found themselves 17-3 down at halftime this week. They very nearly pulled it back in the end but imagine what this team could do if they cleaned up these passages in games where their mistakes allow the opposition to build a lead. Within that game they looked like two different sides at times. If they want to win these big games consistently, they need to clean that up.
Santi Carreras is Argentina’s ace up the sleeve
We’ve been raving about the All Black’s ability to draw on the class of Damian McKenzie to provide some magic and win them games at the end. Well Argentina have been deploying their own trump card the last couple weeks. Santi Carreras is such a brilliant rugby player and he’s totally turned games around for this Argentinian team the past 2 weeks. He was the spark in Murrayfield and the spark again in Twickenham. His break at the end to put Argentina right up against the England line in the 80th minute was nearly a game winning moment of genius. They fell short this time but it’s a scary sight for any opposition when they see Carreras warming up on the sideline.