By Charlie Elliott
The Autumn Internationals began with a bang, with England narrowly losing to the All Blacks, and Scotland dominating Fiji.
From these two games to 50-metre prop tries in another international fixture, here are five of the main talking points from this weekend of rugby:
Fine margins the difference in England vs New Zealand:
England fly-half George Ford missed two huge late chances to give England a first win against the All Blacks on English soil since 2012.
He first hit the post with a penalty in the 79th minute, before also missing a drop goal attempt after the clock went into the red.
Ford has made 80% of his conversions in the past, and this miss under pressure was clearly an uncharacteristic error, paired with the fact that he would then go on to miss yet another kicking attempt, showing the fine margins that come with international rugby.
Others have blamed the pass from Harry Randall for the missed drop goal, believing that it is not Ford’s fault as he was off balance from the moment he received the ball.
A win for England would have shown the world that they are a side to be reckoned with, but the defeat has led people to doubt Steve Borthwick and confirmed people’s suspicions that they lack the winning mentality needed to succeed at the top level.
Darcy Graham scores four tries in Scotland return:
Diminutive Scotland winger Darcy Graham has had a recent history of injuries and has had a year away from playing for his country as a result.
But, against Fiji, this recent struggle will have been forgotten as Graham scored four tries in Scotland’s dominant 57-17 win against Fiji.
These tries momentarily drew him level with Duhan van der Merwe at the top of Scotland’s all-time leading try scorer list, however, van der Merwe would go back to the top with a second-half try.
Darcy and Scotland will try to keep up this form going into their upcoming game against South Africa on Sunday, in a game that is gearing up to be a tighter affair than people may have initially thought.
Joe Marler retires from international rugby:
Legendary England prop Joe Marler announced his retirement from international rugby over the weekend, citing the fact that he wants to spend more time with his family.
Marler earned 95 caps in a 12-year international career, in which he already retired in 2018 to then return in 2019 for the World Cup.
Asher Opoku-Fourdjour of Sale Sharks will replace him, in a move that is being dubbed a ‘changing of the guard’ owing to the young prop being seen as the natural heir to Marler.
Joe has stirred up controversy this week with his opinions on the haka, calling it ‘ridiculous’.
He would then backtrack and say that it is simply the rules which don’t allow teams into New Zealand’s half of the pitch during the ceremonial dance.
England stand up to the haka:
Following on from Joe Marler’s comments about the haka, England stood up to it on Saturday, in a move that many see as ‘accepting the challenge’.
They would then encroach further, however did not cross the halfway line, something which they got fined for after the 2019 World Cup game between the two sides.
Often, fans are expected to remain quiet during the haka as a sign of respect, but the Allianz Stadium crowd stayed in fine voice, singing ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’.
Jamie George insisted that the reaction to the haka was not caused by Marler’s comments and was instead something which had been planned for weeks before.
The reaction of both the players and the crowd added to the occasion and may spark discussion with World Rugby about the rules to do with the haka possibly changing.
Prop Ale Loman’s stunning 50-metre try:
Sweden beating Lithuania 46-19 was a game that many may not be too familiar with, and on the surface seems like a run-of-the-mill lower-level international fixture.
However, something that very rarely happens in rugby happened in this game, a prop scoring a 50-metre try.
Ale Loman bulldozed his way through the Lithuanian defence and showed some neat footwork which wouldn’t look out of place on the wing to help his side to a resounding victory, and to lift them to an all-time high world ranking on 31st.
Loman is based in the UK, plying his trade for Nottingham in the Championship, and will be hoping to continue his prolific scoring form for his club soon, with this being his third try for Sweden.
READ MORE: England agony after last-minute drama
