International Tours Reviewed – How did England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales perform this month?

TRU reflect on an interesting summer for our nations whilst the British and Irish Lions tour New Zealand.

England

In a place where they had won just once before this summer, England again showed their unbelievable strength in depth as they secured two thrilling wins over Argentina.

There was no sulking from the notable Lions absentees and no end of season slump. Instead, it was an entertaining test series which ended with England smiles as they posed for photos in Santa Fe following a 2-0 victory.

Eddie Jones’ side consisted of some of his usual big hitters, but in truth, they had up to 30 players missing and had to call upon players who had limited experience of Premiership rugby. 

Jones said after the tour that his team needs to improve in all attributes to stand a chance of challenging for the World Cup in 2019, but that didn’t stop England getting the better of a strong Argentina side.

England had beaten Argentina in their own back yard four years ago under the stewardship of Stuart Lancaster, but this seemed a much tougher test for Jones despite the Pumas’ torrid form coming into this series.

Argentina had won just four of their last 13 matches prior to the beginning of June, but both games showed exactly why they are still a formidable opponent. In the first Test, England had to rely on a late Denny Solomona try to seal the win and it was a topsy-turvy encounter a week later as a George Ford’s drop-goal helped England over the line.

With the British and Irish Lions quite rightly gripping the attention of the UK, it may have been easy to forget that England were even touring. Jones and England have achieved great things over the last 12 months including a second successive Six Nations title as well a whitewash of Australia and arguably, this test series with Argentina may have seemed like a foregone conclusion. However, that wasn’t the case and the score lines from both games reflect that.

Also, it was all about the bigger picture for Eddie Jones. It was a first taste of what is to come for England as they take on Argentina in the 2019 World Cup pool stages but also, it was a glimpse into the future. This was a tour where Jones was able to look at the talent which the English game has and he utilised it. He handed 11 players their debut and mixed them in with the usual suspects such as Robshaw, Ford et al and it came up trumps.

The fact that 15 players who have recently been selected in England squads are over in New Zealand just highlights how positive this tour was for Jones. The problem he now faces is selecting a 45-man Elite Player Squad in August, but it is certainly a nice problem to have.

Ireland

There have been some real positives for Ireland over the last seven months or so. A first win against New Zealand in 111 years to end the World Champions’ record run of 18 straight matches has to be the highlight, but they also spoiled England’s party too.

Victory in the final match of this year’s Six Nations denied Eddie Jones’ side back-to-back Grand Slams as well as the chance to achieve a world record 19th straight Test win.

So, their summer tour of Japan would never match those heights, but Joe Schmidt’s men will have learnt a lot from their time in the Land of the Rising Sun and will have gained a flavour of what to expect at the World Cup in two years’ time.

Ireland have been drawn against Japan in 2019, but two comfortable wins over the Cherry Blossoms as well as victory over the USA is a job well done for Schmidt’s side this summer as they showed their quality in terms of attitude and ability in humid conditions.

In truth, their triumphs came against a Japan side that continues to build ahead of their own World Cup. Their resources, in regards to players coming through, still needs to be strengthened and the introduction of the Sunwolves into Super Rugby may help with that.

In contrast, Ireland had no such problem as Schmidt handed out eight debuts as they now look to the Autumn internationals where they will have a full complement of players to choose from.

Scotland

After three gruelling tests matches and six weeks on tour, Scotland finally headed for home on Sunday morning mulling over their highs and lows.

Following the dizzy heights of their stunning triumph over Australia, the Scots left Suva yesterday pondering their defeat to Fiji.

This summer marked the beginning of the Gregor Townsend era and it got off the perfect start as Scotland clinched a five-try victory over Italy in Singapore, but the jewel in the crown of this tour was always going to be their trip to Sydney to take on the Wallabies.

Two years ago, Scotland suffered heartbreak in the World Cup quarter-finals against Australia, but they exacted their revenge down under. In every department, Townsend’s side excelled. They showed a cutting edge, steely defence and superb discipline to seal a famous 24-19 win.

But, if Townsend thought taking the next step up the international coaching ladder was going to be straightforward, then their 27-22 defeat over Fiji just highlighted that there is still work to be done.

Having said all of this, Scotland fans should be optimistic.  An historic victory over Australia won’t be forgotten for a while and they were missing key men during their loss to Fiji.

Finn Russell seems to be the heartbeat of this side and without his creativity and control, Scotland are weaker. Stuart Hogg, Greig Laidlaw, Tommy Seymour and Sean Maitland were all absent for one reason or another as well as other key names, so you do feel that there is another level which this Scotland side can reach.

There is strength and depth too. Ben Toolis, Greig Tonks and John Barclay all put their hands up and even the performance of Scotland’s U20s at the recent World Cup in Georgia is something to be positive about. The future, as it has done for the last couple of years, continues to look bright for Scotland.

Wales

Twelve Wales players. That is how many were selected by Warren Gatland for the British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand.

It left Rob McBryde with the chance to blood some new players into the first team set-up and judging by their victories over Tonga and Samoa, the stand in head coach will have a lot of positive feedback to tell Rob Howley and Warren Gatland.

Two weeks ago, Wales won for the first time at Eden Park when they beat Tonga 24-6 which included three uncapped players; Seb Davies, Steff Evans and Thomas Young with the latter impressing in Auckland. McBryde was able to blend youth with experience as Jamie Roberts, Scott Williams and Alex Cuthbert all featured.

The aforementioned Evans dotted down twice at the weekend to help Wales beat Samoa who came into the fixture on the back of a 78-0 thrashing by New Zealand.

It was once again an inexperienced side named by McBryde but it was reported that 10 Wales players were taken ill before the match with a sickness bug. It meant the team that lined-up in difficult conditions against Samoa contained just 151 caps, with Roberts’ 92 appearances included.

The 19-17 scoreline highlighted that Wales had dug deep to win in Apia, but throughout their summer tour, their resources were stretched and they were able to deliver two commendable results.