David Campese’s passionate plea after ‘stupid sh*thousery’ and how ‘evolving’ England can become ‘outstanding’ team
Wallabies legend David Campese has praised England fly-half Marcus Smith.
Following the All Blacks v England, Wallabies v Wales and Springboks v Ireland series, Australia legend David Campese brings us his five takeaways from the action.
Ireland are back
“Ireland are a side of wonderment, failure and success in equal measure, and it must be eternally frustrating being an Irish supporter never knowing what you’re going to get,” he said.
“There’s obviously a tie in with the performances of Leinster and last season, after the Rugby World Cup and Champions Cup failures, many, including me, felt this team were on a downslope of form and age profile.
“But there’s nothing like a team making you eat your words and Ireland have done exactly that – to me and to others. However, the key part of the win in Durban was selection – getting the right players on the pitch in the right positions to deliver the right game plan.
“The return of Conor Murray and Garry Ringrose was crucial; those guys have deep experience but crucially, both have the confidence to play heads up rugby based upon what’s in front of them and the Ringrose guile and the Murray pragmatism, especially in exit, showed that Ireland are at their best when they play with freedom, hunger and fire.
“However, for all the intellect of the backs, the sheer physicality of that game was astonishing – something very special indeed. It’s a truism to say if you want to beat the Boks you have to do it up front and the pack selections, including shoring up the blindside flank with Tadhg Beirne moving across the row to the side, really paid off.
“The Northern Hemisphere sides were in danger of being clean sweeped but for this win and once again, Ireland are the best of the north, an accolade they’ve held for some time now.”
Croc-rolls
“Another major takeout of that game that disappointed me was the croc-roll incident. This is simply not acceptable in the modern game. These guys are pros, and they need to respect each other’s careers and, bluntly, that could have ended Malcolm Marx’s rugby – especially considering he’s just returning from an ACL reconstruction,” Campese mused.
“I have some sympathy with the on-field officials – they are watching a screen with low definition under the pressure of a Test match and I noted that the team asked on a number of occasions about the actions of green five – James Ryan – who contributed equally or more to the situation yet got off scot free.
Nigel Owens: Ireland duo ‘very, very lucky’ to avoid more cards for Malcolm Marx clear-out
“For me, in that situation, two players have contributed to that croc-roll – both Caelan Doris who initiated, then Ryan who came charging in and finished it off. So why haven’t we seen two yellow cards?
“My view is that had Ryan been carded and referred to the bunker, he may well have seen red. It was interesting to hear the words of the referee when informing the captains of the Doris situation when it remained a yellow – “due to the actions of another player, this will remain a yellow” or something along those lines, which clearly alluded to Ryan’s impact.
“My message is clear – guys, we have one career – let’s play bloody hard but let’s not jeopardise our own livelihoods by stupid sh*thousery like this. It’s simply not acceptable to put a fellow pro’s career at risk and this must be self-policed by the players themselves.”
England promise
“There’s so much to like about the way the Poms have evolved their game. They’ve gone from a traditional power side, like most English teams of old, but now Steve Borthwick is starting to implement the style of rugby that Premiership watchers see week in and week out,” Campese praised.
“The vision of Marcus Smith has unlocked the All Black defence on at least four occasions in July, but best of all he’s demonstrated he, with the brilliant Alex Mitchell, can control a Test match strategy, something that I believe he wasn’t trusted by the coaches to do a year ago. Mark my words, if you want to beat the best, you have to score tries and Smith’s brilliance will always enable that.
“As a back three player myself, I love the four youngsters England have in their back three. George Furbank’s absence for the second Test was an issue for the Poms as his speed into the line posed a lot of defensive questions for New Zealand. In retrospect, I know Tommy Freeman has played at 15 for Saints and I just wonder if his style would have offered more continuity, especially considering how Ollie Sleightholme’s first touch lit up Eden Park and almost ended in a score.
“However, rather paradoxically for England, they need to sort out their set-piece scrummaging and do it rather quickly. Fin Baxter has two caps and will learn, but Will Stuart, a man with nearly 40 caps, hasn’t learned and that’s a problem.
“However, for me, England are only one or two players short of an outstanding team. Sort out the front-row, sort out the 13 position and they’re very much at the races.”
Sides in transition
“Both Wales and the Wallabies have quite a bit to take out of their mini-series,” said the former Wallaby.
“Wales above all have a fantastic leader in Dewi Lake, a man that can be their figurehead to build a team around and someone to inspire by personal deed and that’s key for them.
“They know they’ve a great back-row and a wonderful set of options in the back three, with Rio Dyer and Liam Williams shining in both Tests. But they still need to work on their midfield – there’s simply no tactical control or attacking threat coming from nine to 13, save for a bit of impact from Kieran Hardy, and that’s simply not what we expect from Wales, who build their brand around thrilling and fearless attack.
“Nevertheless, they’ve a platform to build on and whilst the results didn’t go their way, they came into this series with 14 players injured and they leave Australia with a thread of hope to move their game on.
“For the Wallabies, what I did see was a team playing detailed, phase rich, Joe Schmidt style rugby. Continuity via simplicity at rucks with lots of close pick and goes, a very impressive back-row with Fraser McReight and Bobby Valetini thriving both sides of the ball, and a powerful scrum.
“However, the Wallaby Way is running attacking rugby and we’re some way off that. But the only way we’ll get there is to maintain the faith in combinations – let Noah Lolesio develop his talent, let Hunter Paisami do the same and get that electric back three into the game.”
Washing up
“Very lastly, I wanted to just mention the other Tests taking place in the Americas,” he continued.
“A shout out to the US Eagles and their defence against Scotland – it’s the brainchild of former England number eight Nick Easter, a brilliant forwards and defence coach, and the precision and organisation of the USA in their primary defence was outstanding and kept a very talented Scottish backline at bay, forcing them to go to maul tries, which says a lot about Easter’s vision. However, he’ll be furious with some schoolboy errors in number matching at those mauls and Scotland showed true Tier One power in getting over a number of times.
“The Scots will be disappointed in the return against the US Eagles and frankly, a side in their evolutionary stage, needs full Tier One opposition in their July series and it’s astonishing that they didn’t have any.
“Lastly, France can take a lot from their tour of Argentina. Los Pumas had virtually a full-strength team out on each occasion, minus the brilliant Emiliano Boffelli, and let’s not forget that this is the side that finished fourth at the Rugby World Cup – above France, Ireland, Wales and Scotland.
“France have discovered an absolute baller of a flank in Lenni Nouchi, a man that’s superb both sides of the ball and already, at 20, is skippering a Top 14 team at Montpellier. His work, alongside the magnificent Baptiste Serin and the emerging centre Emile Gailleton and wing Theo Attissogbe gives France even more depth in three crucial positions and I am sure we will see all four of those outstanding players in the 2024/25 season.”
