How the rise of Six Nations teams has impacted Australia’s performance
The Wallabies’ relative decline in the north has been aided by the rise of the Six Nations teams. Since about 2015 and the Six Nations’ miserable Rugby World Cup in England (the home side were eliminated in the group stages and the French lost 62-13 to New Zealand in the quarter-finals) three European nations have returned to produce their best teams since turning pro.
Fortunately, the Wallabies’ last two opponents this year, Ireland and France, have briefly been ranked No.1 in the world or looked like the best team in the world since 2015.
Scotland are also virtually unrecognizable from previous versions, where the Wallabies knew in advance they would beat. The Scots fell outside the world top 10 after being cleared in the 2012 Six Nations. The current version is a historically good Scotland team.
So there is a cyclical element to the current balance of power, moving away from Australia. This may not last forever if Rugby Australia is effective in road works and shows commitment to improving the standard of the four Super Rugby teams. It’s no coincidence that the Wallabies’ relative decline is in line with their last Australian Super Rugby title.
And without trying to poke the bear, evidence is beginning to emerge that a very good era in Ireland is coming to an end; just like in Wales before.
The other factor at play, although harder to prove, is that the collapse of the old Super Rugby has not helped the Wallabies’ attempts to become good tourists once again.
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The South Africans have provided a style of rugby much closer to northern hemisphere norms than Super Rugby Pacific, and even the losing act of touring in unfamiliar environments for weeks can have a high-performance impact.
The irony, of course, is that the rise of the north and the relative decline of the Wallabies are the product of the globalization of the sport: the treasure that rugby league is now chasing.
No rugby fan can disparage rugby league’s desire to expand its horizons without hypocrisy; The international element of the 15-man sport is one of its strengths and why wouldn’t rugby league want to enjoy that?
But part of that package is to acknowledge the ability of overseas rivals to improve, even if it hurts the Wallabies’ win percentage and ultimately the result.
That’s what’s happened over the past decade, and that significant headwind is still causing a lot of turbulence for the Wallabies.
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