Autumn Internationals 2022

Rassie should tweet that for sure

England’s attack is as unimaginative as it has been all autumn, bar ten minutes last week, but SA defence is excellent. Just seems like they’ve more men on the field

it was a dangerous a hit as I’ve seen autumn. From a guy of that size, at pace. Pretty shocking that, even in the heat of the moment, that kind of hit is even considered

I agree. Really solid defence and imaginative going forward (at least by Springbok standards). It’s good to see the odd drop goal too - under-utilised IMO. They were more physical and dynamic today but maybe that’s because England just seem soft. I enjoyed watching them play

They're definitely at a low ebb but they looked to be playing with a similar kind of malaise in 2018 and we're a different team just a year later.

Lot's of criticism going around and Jones has latched onto this 'wait for the world cup' mantra as a response. Six nations should be illustrative and give an indication as to whether it's all bluff.

I 100% agree with this, and yet, they've a far better chance of progressing deep in the RWC than we do, purely by the luck of the draw.

They're in an incredibly soft pool with Argentina, Japan, Samoa and Chile, and then likely have Wales in the QF. They'll only have to play 2 of the elite teams to potentially win the tournament.

There was nothing lucky about our draw in 2019. We've never had a path as soft as England potentially have at the moment.

To reach a SF they have to overcome the current World #7 and #10 in their pool (alongside #11 and #22(!)), to likely then face the #9 team in the world in a QF. That's a historically soft path whatever way you look at it, and would be no great indicator of England's quality if they make it to a SF.

It doesn't stack up from a ranking perspective - we were drawn in a pool with the then #5 team in the world and the #11 team (who were also hosts), but then had the potential to face NZ or SA in the QF. Are you seriously telling me that's a better potential draw than either facing likely Australia or Wales next year?

It seems more like another one of those scenarios where you're being contrarian for the sake of it.

World rankings are literally indicative of form. The reason Ireland and France are numbers #1 & #2 in the world rankings is because of the quality of schedule both teams have faced over the past 12 months and the consistency of form. And, fwiw, the Aussies are 6 in the rankings, and I disagree that there is "very little" between the teams.

There is surely little to no dispute that over the past 3+ years, the best 4 teams in the world all find themselves on the same side of the draw. If you don't think that's a contentious fact, then it obviously follows that the teams on the other side of the draw have an easier draw.

I don't think us Irish fans are in a position to call any world cup draw "easy".

This is a nonsense statement. You're someone who on the Munster thread was accusing another poster of "speculating" about the Crowley / Carbery situation, but that's exactly what you're doing here by saying "England probably will show up" etc.

You can only assess a WC draw on where you're currently standing, and Stevie Wonder could look at this situation and see England have an easier path to a WC semi final than we do.