SOUTHERN COMFORT
The three Tests involving New Zealand, South Africa and Australia over the weekend followed their usual course, and not just in terms of results. A question after England's defeat to the All Blacks was how they would be able to evolve their attacking game by the 2015 World Cup, but why stop there?
England scored a try against New Zealand, Joe Launchbury seizing a loose ball in front of the opposition line, but Ireland managed only kicks against Australia while Scotland, as they say in cricket, did not trouble the scoreboard at Murrayfield on Sunday, or the South Africa defence.
The Springboks were never more dangerous than when the Scots were in possession; the more Scotland moved the ball, the less they were likely to score. Their passing was laboured, there was little movement off the ball and it was always a case of when the mistake would come and who would make it, but it was not only their skills that were lacking: they had a wretched inability to get the ball quickly away from the breakdown.
Scotland were unable to turn South African mistakes into profit and if there is a feature of the game in the British Isles that has been exposed this month it is a slowness to exploit counter-attacking opportunities: it is not as if New Zealand, South Africa and Australia do not make mistakes, but European players seem more comfortable operating in the known rather the unknown.
They prefer structure to chaos, implementing plans rather than playing off the cuff. England enjoyed 62% of the possession against New Zealand, retaining the ball for long periods, but they were outscored by three tries to one: all the All Blacks' scores came after the ball had been put through hands, able to create space and time under pressure.
It is partly the result of innate skill, but Ma'a Nonu was hardly renowned for his passing and handling ability when he started playing for the All Blacks: he was more head down and charge but after being dropped from the side, not least because too many moves died with him, he refined his game and became probably the leading inside-centre in the world.
The way he created New Zealand's final try at Twickenham, drawing the tackles of Courtney Lawes and Ben Morgan before passing to Julian Savea who ran into the space created by his centre, was typical Nonu, but nine years ago he would have looked to charge through the two England forwards.
The three weekend games produced 11 tries for the Sanzar countries and one for the Six Nations. Factor in Wales's blank against South Africa the week before and England's two against Australia at the start of the month and the tally in five matches is 15-3 to the south.
At the start of the professional era, the main difference between the Celtic nations and the Southern Hemisphere was physique and fitness and they all endured a number of record hammerings. That gap has closed, with Wales in particular now a physical side that is able to go the distance, but composure under pressure, the knack of making the right decision at a key moment in the game in a split-second, remains elusive.
England's attacking failings, two of their three tries against Australia and New Zealand came after forwards fell on a loose ball a metre out, have this week been blamed on the Aviva Premiership and its perceived mindset on preventing the opposition from scoring tries rather than creating, but the RaboDirect Pro 12 is regarded as a tournament with more of an emphasis on attack and Wales, Ireland and Scotland have not scored a try between them against the southern hemisphere's big three yet this month: the count against them is 11-0.
The former England centre Jeremy Guscott, no slave to structure in his playing days, blamed the influx of coaches from rugby league, describing coaching as too prescriptive and autocratic. "A number of teams want to get into a position, as in rugby league, when they go through three or four phases to manufacture a position from where they want to do a set move," he said, but are tries scarce at the top level of rugby league?
England have not lacked intent this month, nor have Ireland, Wales or Scotland. The Wales head coach Warren Gatland believes the step from the RaboDirect Pro 12 to Test matches against the leading southern hemisphere nations is not one that can be taken in a single bound; the Heineken Cup was designed to lie in between, but it can depend on which group a side is in, one reason why a 20-team tournament may be the way to go.
New Zealand, South Africa and Australia have the Super 15, which has been decried in Europe as an entertainment vehicle in which rugby's basics have become secondary, but it does not appear to have made the defences of the All Blacks, the Springboks and the Wallabies any easier to breach. There were times on Sunday in the second half when, with the game won, South Africa seemed to be inviting Scotland to attack, easing off on their blitz defence as if giving themselves tackling practice ahead of their final tour match against France.
It is not as if scoring tries in the major autumn Tests is a new problem for the four home unions. While an army of coaches can get a team prepared physically and formulate winning gameplans, they cannot get inside the heads of their players. At the very point England needed to kick on against New Zealand having taken the lead, it was the All Blacks who took control, just as South Africa had in Cardiff the week before when Wales had put themselves within a kick of taking the lead.
They both responded with tries, and while South Africa's was fortunate because Jaque Fourie was off-side when he chased Fourie du Preez's kick, the try followed a mistake made by Wales when in possession. The style of rugby in the Premiership, and the Pro 12, is one thing, performing under intense pressure another, and players should not look to hide behind their coaches. They have never had it so good.
