A busy schedule of international rugby is accelerating into view with the summer Test swing set for a soft launch this weekend before the itinerary intensifies in a fortnight’s time.
England have travelled to Tokyo for an appointment with an old friend in Eddie Jones, whose Japan side will be intent on posing problems in the heat.
Taylor Swift’s arrival in Cardiff, meanwhile, has forced Wales to relocate to their neighbours’ abode – Warren Gatland’s men will seek a first win of the year as they “host” South Africa at Twickenham.
It may be a useful outing for a strong Springboks side as they look ahead to rather tasty business to come, and Ireland have confirmed their squad for their two-Test trip to face the world champions in July.
Here are five talking points ahead of the weekend’s action:
Marcus Smith gets first crack at seizing shirt
Steve Borthwick had hinted last week that he would be naming a strong side to face Japan, the England head coach seeing this game as a chance to build momentum before taking on the All Blacks rather than an attempt to assess some of the fringe faces in his 36-man travelling party. It looks pretty close to a first-choice England side, with Chandler Cunningham-South and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso among those hoping to build on promising Six Nations.
The focus, though, will surely be on how Marcus Smith goes at fly half as he battles name-sake Fin for the starting shirt this summer – and perhaps beyond. The Harlequin’s three starts at ten under Borthwick have so far ended in three defeats; England should have too much for a rebuilding Japan but Smith will want to make a statement.
Jac Morgan injury a blow Warren Gatland could ill afford…
There have been plenty of damaging days in recent Welsh rugby history but Saturday’s clash with the World Cup winners looks a little worrying. “We have our backs to the wall a little bit this week,” Warren Gatland began after naming a callow 23, perhaps not a positive message to be sending four days out from Test match combat.
A Welsh squad without too many proven performers at international level is weakened further for this fixture with the unavailability of Gatland’s England-based players, but it is the loss of Jac Morgan that will particularly causing the New Zealander to fret. Tommy Reffell fulfilled his openside duties superbly during the Six Nations but Wales sorely missed Morgan’s leadership on and off the pitch.
…and mighty South African pack should take advantage
The Springboks look fearsome as they return to action for the first time since hoisting the Webb Ellis Cup aloft last November. A tight five of Ox Nche, Malcolm Marx, Vincent Koch, Eben Etzebeth and Franco Mostert is, frankly, frightening. Double World Cup winners Pieter-Steph du Toit and Kwagga Smith are along for the ride in the starting pack, too, while Etzebeth (118) alone has nearly as many international caps as the entirety of the Welsh front eight (125). There’s still cattle to come, too: South Africa’s Bulls contingent are otherwise engaged with the United Rugby Championship final this weekend.
A stable platform should be a certainty, then, as some newer faces look to strut their stuff in the backline. Jordan Hendrikse has the tools to be a Test ten and Edwill van der Merwe is the latest scrum-capped stepper off the production line, but it might be Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu generating the most excitement. The Stormer offers versatility and variety at 10, 12 or 15 – where Rassie Erasmus deploys him may be a key indicator in how he sees South Africa evolving over the next few years.
Peter O’Mahony leads Ireland again but Andy Farrell’s future plans become clearer
There was plenty of speculation at the end of the Six Nations that Peter O’Mahony’s final Ireland game might have been the title-sealing win over Scotland, but the flanker has been named captain again in Andy Farrell’s squad to confront the Springboks. The 34-year-old is probably the perfect leader for a tour of South Africa, confrontational and robust, yet there are signs that Farrell is starting to really think about life after his leader.
Ryan Baird is getting better and better on the blindside, while Cian Prendergast has several strong seasons behind him. Newbie Cormac Izuchukwu has quickly gone from an intriguing project to a genuine difference-maker at Ulster, while Tom Ahern will surely be back in the mix after injury. The quartet are all long-limbed lineout leapers with the acceleration to cause real problems as edge forwards in Ireland’s attacking structure — it may be that a couple of them are seen as locks but it’s a fascinating group regardless.
England’s great scrum half double act grace Twickenham turf again
It is in the podcast charts rather than on the pitch that Ben Youngs and Danny Care are now more regularly vying for places, but it feels right that two men who spent so long at the top of England’s scrum half pecking order will have one last squabble for selection. The pair are the two scrum halves in the Barbarians squad for a clash with Fiji that forms the second half of the double-header at Twickenham on Saturday, the invitational side ever a useful valedictory exercise for an international veteran or two.
It is testament to the enduring talent of Youngs and Care that they are both Test centurions despite having existed in tandem for so long. Both plough on at club level, but they’ll relish one last chance to test the breadth and depth of a surface they know so well.
