Analysis - With the Six Nations tournament coming to a climactic end, the benchmark for test rugby now belongs in the Northern Hemisphere, writes Jamie Wall.
France's Antoine Dupont lifts the Six Nations trophy. Photo: Photosport
There couldn't have been a clearer display of where things are at right now in the rugby world than the events of the Six Nations and Super Rugby Pacific over the weekend. Only one game was played in New Zealand thanks to the pandemic, in front of the desolate and empty Mt Smart stands, while up north the dramatic final round of rugby's oldest* championship certainly lived up to its self proclaimed title of the greatest as well.
The Chiefs and Moana Pasifika essentially did a repeat of their preseason game at the same venue, with the same attendance, same outcome and almost the same scoreline. The Chiefs had 17 players out (presumably mostly with Covid), including Sam Cane, Samisoni Taukei'aho and Anton Lienert-Brown, but it didn't hinder them underlining their very serious title credentials in the 59-12 win.
Moana Pasifika, who have only played Super Rugby one game so far, did their best not to hinder the Chiefs either by giving away a slew of penalties throughout the game. You can't give your opposition that much of a leg up, especially one like the Chiefs who had a very well drilled and effective set piece, but the new boys did take the two opportunities they had very well for a couple of really good tries. So the potential is definitely there if Moana Pasifika can sort out their penalty problems, and they'll be eyeing up a few of the Australian teams as targeted wins.
Both the Rebels and Waratahs will be on that list, who combined last night at SCG in a game that set some sort of social media record for complaining about a stadium's unsuitability for rugby. Which is fair enough given how poor the view is:
But the real rugby attention was in the packed stadiums of Europe, where the Six Nations reached its climactic weekend and the chance for France to complete their first Grand Slam in 12 years. Before that could happen, though, perennial whipping boys Italy pulled off their first win in seven years in the most impressive fashion in Cardiff. Edoardo Padovani's winning try, set up by the sensational youngster Ange Capuozzo, is even better with Italian commentary, which goes from sad resignation of what looks to be yet another loss to the sort of glorious delirium that only sport can provide.
Meanwhile, in Paris, le jour de gloire est arrivé for French rugby, with many immediately predicting another day of glory is imminent when they host the World Cup in over a year and a half's time. Their 25-13 win over England was played in front of a heaving and thunderous 80,000 at Stade de France, the consistency that has long eluded French rugby became frighteningly apparent. It'd be a difficult task naming a World XV right now that was not dominated by Frenchmen, an even harder one to justify including any of the All Black team that got demolished by them back in November.
If any of the All Black players and recently reappointed coaching staff were wondering, that win, along with the sweeping aside of the rest of the competition, is the benchmark in test rugby right now. The pressure that was on the likes of Antoine Dupont, Romain Ntamack and the rest of this golden generation of French players was handled with ease - this was their dry run at a World Cup campaign, the main thing that coach Fabien Galthié will be worried about now is maintaining the arm's length he has on the rest.
A year and a half is a long time, especially in Northern Hemisphere rugby. But for now, it is an increasingly uncomfortable conversation around these parts about the best footy in the world, because it's not one that includes the All Blacks.
*The Five Nations only became an 'official' tournament in 1983, but the teams had been playing each other for 100 years before that.
