Lions win the first test; All Blacks sweep the French. What happened over the weekend in rugby?
We are well and truly into the rugby season now, as the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia is happening, the Rugby Championship is just right around the corner, and every week it seems that a new rugby nation has qualified for the next Rugby World Cup.
So, what has happened over the last weekend in the rugby world?
The Lions storm into Brisbane and take the first test against the Wallabies 19-27
Although the men in gold put up a good last twenty minutes of the game, it wasn’t enough, as the British and Irish Lions took the first test match of the series 19-27.
The Lions’ defence held firm, Finn Russell dominated the battle of the fly-halves, and with the offence of Australia only seeming to click into gear in the 60th minute, that wasn’t enough for them to win the test match.
“We've got character, but we didn't take the chances we should have,” Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt said after the game. "We'll make some decisions Monday and Tuesday. It's difficult to say if we'll change personally and how that will impact us.”
Considering the Wallabies only had one warm-up game and the Lions have played together for over a month, this was always going to be an uphill battle for the Wallabies, simply because of the lack of preparation.
It’s now all eyes on the second test this weekend, where the Wallabies must win if they want to win this series, and with over 100,000 fans expected to show up at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, it will truly be a spectacle.
The question is, can this young and hungry Wallabies team grab this win? We will have to wait and see.
All Blacks sweep the season series against the French 3-0
Well, All Blacks fans, are we feeling more confident now? I am honestly not sure. The All Blacks win a testing final match against France 29-19 in Hamilton, securing themselves a 3-0 series sweep.
This was a typical good old-fashioned test match, with the French scoring early, giving themselves a nice ten-point cushion. Very eerie in the first match of the series, the All Blacks looked slow and needed a response; enter Will Jordan.
In the 22nd minute, off a simple kick and chase, Jordan sprints after the ball and dots it down for the first try of the match. Giving the All Blacks much-needed life, although it took a lot for them to even grab points. France held their line for almost all of the first half, and only thanks to the constant pressure did the line crack and allow Anton Lienert-Brown to score the All Blacks’ second try in the 42nd minute.
Once that All Blacks try was scored, the men in black managed to get more and more opportunities, and the scorelines showed that they won 29-19.
But again, it wasn’t a pretty game; a very soft defensive effort in the beginning of the second half nearly allowed the French to score a try, we also dropped balls, and made silly discipline errors. It should have been a blowout, but because of these factors, the All Blacks kept shooting themselves in the foot.
At the end of the day, this wasn’t the strongest French team; most of their stars are resting and didn’t even travel to New Zealand, so while a sweep looks good, the 3-0 wins is very deceiving.
It doesn’t show that this French team had the All Blacks rattled at points and very, very nearly could have won a game or even two.
It's now on to the next team, Argentina, and they will be hungry for another upset win against the All Blacks.
The Baby Blacks fall just short in the U20 World Cup final
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world in Italy, our U20 rugby team, “the Baby Blacks,” fell just short in the U20 Rugby World Cup final, 15-23. An amazing effort for our upcoming stars, and after this result, there is plenty to be proud of.
Head coach Milton Haig was visibly disappointed with the result but praised his side for what he believed was a good tournament for them, despite not crossing the final hurdle. “Firstly, I’m very proud of our group. It’s been a good tournament for us, and we have grown as a team,” head coach Haig said.
The dominance of the South Africans at this tournament was just another level, however, as they won every match, scoring more points (249) and tries (34) than any of the other twelve countries in the tournament.
The Baby Blacks tried and tried to catch up and win, but every time it seemed the South Africans had the perfect counter; whether it was a try, penalty, or maul, they had the All Blacks’ number.
And due to some poor discipline and the Baby Blacks having to play with 14 men for a good chunk of the game, it was too much ground for the All Blacks to make up.
This team, although falling short, should be so proud of their achievements and will be back next tournament for redemption.
Zimbabwe hold on against Namibia to book its first Rugby World Cup spot since 1991
It’s been a long time coming, but after 36 years of trying, Zimbabwe rugby will be heading to the next Rugby World Cup.
It was a close, grueling battle with Namibia as these two rugby nations exchanged blow after blow, leading to a tie going into halftime; however, it didn’t take long for second-row Godfrey Muzanargwo to force his way over and take the lead, and just 15 minutes later, Brandon Mudzekenyedzi would stretch the lead just beyond the reach of Namibia and give Zimbabwe the cushion they needed.
Although Namibia made a desperate comeback in the final minutes, it wasn't enough, as the final score was 30-28 to Zimbabwe.
“For us, now, it’s back to the drawing board.” Godfrey Muzanargwo said after the match. “We don’t want to go to the World Cup just to be there. We want to go there and compete and put Zimbabwe on the map.
They are now the second African team to qualify, behind South Africa, and will look to make their mark in 2027.
For now, we wait to see what the next big story is, as the next Lions test is just under a week away, and the rugby season will continue to march on.
