The rivalry between Ireland and South Africa has grown peculiar in the last few years.
But the peculiarity is that the rivalry is created between the fanfare around and only transcends to the players.
Fans with Six Nations tickets this year saw Ireland make history as they clinched back-to-back titles, the first to achieve this feat.
Instead, this is a rivalry created by everyone else in the rugby community debating who is the best team in the world ahead of their much-anticipated two-Test series in July.
It will clash between the Northern Champions, the World Cup winners, and fans with Six Nations tickets who are already looking for Summer options.
The Springboks have a few aces in the hole in this debate, being the reigning world champions and official world number one. Still, Ireland has had plenty of advocates since their victorious Guinness Six Nations campaign, or even before then.
While the two camps grow more vociferous as we edge closer to their blockbuster series, one thing that has yet to be seen is someone breaking ranks and criticising their side.
But former Ireland wing Andrew Trimble is only partially convinced by the hype surrounding the side he represented 70 times.
Speaking on his Potholes and Penguins podcast, the former Ulster wing dissected Ireland’s Six Nations campaign and provided context to each one of their performances.
“If they’d have beaten England, I still feel we would have been talking ‘Is this the best team ever,’ ‘Is this the best team that’s ever played in the Six Nations'” he said.
“I still think they could be better. They’re not good.
Trimble’s comments are purely woven around this year’s Six Nations, which needed to be more competitive, and Ireland had a distinctive advantage in progress.
“There’s a story behind every game, there’s context behind every game.
“The first game in Marseille was the peak France without Antoine Dupont. Peak France. The most significant deficit that Dupont left was in that first game.
“Italy was unopposed, playing beautiful flowing phase play against no defence. Italy then got their finger out after that.
“We stuttered against Wales; we had nowhere near the same flow.
“England, we completely cocked up. Now we’re saying, ‘Oh England at Twickenham’ – no one was saying that; everyone was saying England are shit, they’ve been shit for two years, we’re going to spank them. And we got a beating.
“We got outsmarted, outfoxed in the first 40 minutes by Scotland, and we had to go to a simplistic gameplan to get the game over the line. And we still nearly cocked it up. Scotland made 240 tackles. Do you know how exhausted they must have been? Still, Huw Jones runs from 40 and scores.
“So it’s not that good of an Irish side.”
What’s Next for Scotland Women After Six Nations?
Scotland’s loss to Ireland meant Bryan Easson’s side missed out on third place in the Six Nations and automatic qualification for the 2025 Women’s World Cup, but they now have the chance to retain the WXV 2 title.
Qualification for the World Cup looks highly likely, although admittedly complex. Five teams have already secured their place, and six more will qualify as winners of six regional tournaments in 2024.
The final six spots will go to the highest-finishing WXV teams who still need to qualify – and that is certain to include Scotland. It disappointed the Scottish fans with Six Nations tickets, but there’s still hope.
WXV2 will once again be held in South Africa, with Scotland playing on three consecutive Sundays: 29 September, 6 October, and 13 October.
At this stage, their opponents are still unknown, although they could face rematches against last year’s opponents, South Africa, the USA, and Japan.
Scotland captain Rachel Malcolm was bittersweet about the Six Nations campaign, saying: “Pushing France so close, coming away with two wins and pushing Ireland right up till the final whistle is an incredible achievement in a tournament, but it doesn’t mean we are satisfied.
“The depth we have built in this squad and the performances we have put together have been good, but our ability to put away opportunities is going to be the point of difference that will take us to the next level.”
Qatar Eyes Nations League
Not yet born, already coveted. According to Daily Mail, the future Rugby Nations League, the first edition announced for 2026, is of interest to Qatar.
The Gulf State is said to have made an unbeatable offer: World Rugby will host the finals over three days in one or two of the Doha stadiums built for the Football World Cup in 2022.
Qatar’s project, submitted last week to the body, promises economic benefits of around 800 million pounds – almost 950 million euros – over eight years, or the first four editions of the League of Nations.
World Rugby confirmed last year that its new competition would begin in 2026, with the Six Nations Tournament teams touring the southern hemisphere for three matches before hosting three more in Europe. The Rugby Nations League will have two divisions: the first with the 6 Nations and Four Nations teams, plus two invited countries, Japan and Fiji; the second is European countries and the southern hemisphere chosen by World Rugby.
The final will be held every two years.
Qatar currently plays in the Asia Rugby Division I Championship, but there’s more to this tournament than simply developing the sport in the country. Qatar currently has state-of-the-art infrastructure to host events. After the recently concluded FIFA World Cup 2022, the government wishes to follow in Dubai’s footsteps and bring major sports events to the country.
If this falls through, those with Six Nations tickets will also be keen to visit Qatar to witness the ultimate rugby showdown, a tournament that will decide the best team worldwide.
The Nations League will only be second to the Rugby World Cup. The Nations League structure would initially facilitate the Six Nations and continue the knockout stages to the newly proposed Nations League.
