Author: Daniel Gallan

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Italy beat the deluge and condemn toothless Wales to 14th defeat in a row

  • Italy 22-15 Wales
  • Tomasso Allan kicks 17 points as home side win in Rome

Another week, another Welsh defeat, another 80 minutes in which those in red gave their best as individuals but proved that it is nowhere near good enough for this level. A 14th straight defeat has dropped them to 12th on World Rugby’s ­rankings, one place below Georgia and the lowest position in their history. In Roman rain, Warren Gatland’s Divine Comedy descended another circle.

Perhaps the most damning point of all is that this never felt like a contest. The losing bonus point, procured at the death with a penalty try after two Italians received yellow cards, felt undeserving and failed to gloss over the preceding dross. Even with so much riding on this result, and even with the weather stifling Italy’s attacking threat, Wales simply failed to manufacture a challenge. Forget about a Plan B, Gatland’s team now appear bereft of any plan at all beyond aimless kicks, toothless carries and unjustified hope.

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France 43-0 Wales: Six Nations 2025 opener – as it happened

France cruise to seven-try victory as Wales draw blank in 13th straight loss

There are a bunch of new laws in place for this year’s Six Nations:

Conversions must take place within 60 seconds.

Lineouts to be formed within 30 seconds (same as scrums)

No stoppage for lineouts that aren’t straight if the defending team doesn’t contest.

9s (or players at the base of a ruck, maul or scrum) have more protection from defenders (effectively given more space).

20 minute red card – players can still get sent off, but after 20 minutes they can be replaced by a teammate, which means we can hopefully stop talking about red cards ruining games.

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Southampton 0-5 Tottenham: Premier League – as it happened

Five first-half goals give Spurs thumping win over hopeless Southampton, whose fans turned on manager Russell Martin

This has a bit of a desperate feel to it. Both managers on TNT were doing their best to mask their anxiety (at least that’s my pop psychology take). They know that the ice below their feet is getting thinner.

The players are now making their way out the tunnel. All the noise, all the pressure, all the injuries and absentees, this could be anything.

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Reality check of Scotland defeat brings resurgent Wallabies back to earth | Daniel Gallan

Excitement and optimism abounded after two statement wins but result shows Schmidt’s work is just starting out

It had been a fortnight of razzle-dazzle and eye-catching headlines. Offloads and sidesteps, pyrotechnics and sliding tries in the corner had filled highlights reels and provided content for podcasts and think-pieces. There wasn’t a spare seat on the bandwagon. The hype train was chugging along at full throttle. Everyone wanted to know: Were the Wallabies back?

This was the reality check that Australian rugby needed. Because for all their brilliance in their record wins in London and Cardiff, they were handed a lesson here in Edinburgh. This 27-13 defeat serves as a timely reminder that for all the positivity that has been accrued this autumn, there are still more pressing questions that need answering.

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Joe Schmidt finds beauty in the basics to turbocharge Australia’s dazzling revival | Daniel Gallan

The record-breaking wins against Wales and England have been built on a bedrock of principles that don’t make the highlights reels

It took less than two minutes for Australia to show their continued progress under Joe Schmidt. Having secured the ball they set about their work with Nic White zipping short passes to narrow runners who charged straight and hard into contact. And again. And again. And again. In no time they’d worked their way to a 13th phase before a spill of the ball handed Wales a scrum on their own 22. The move didn’t yield any points but it offered a glimpse of what is possible under this new regime.

Last week Australia snatched a remarkable victory at Twickenham with true blue Aussie gumption. Lightning hands, down the line, into the corner via tap-ons and sidesteps. It was a remarkable display of razzle-dazzle pulled off by naturally gifted ballers with licence to strut their stuff when the chance is on. But that’s always been there and, as long as 15 blokes show an interest in taking the field for some union footy, they’ll be there whether or not the code recedes from the mainstream. What this group needed was some steel and discipline, a dose of patience to go with their panache. That’s what wins Test matches.

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Joseph-Aukuso Sua’ali’i: from unproven prospect to living out a dream on rugby’s grandest stage | Daniel Gallan

The code-hopper is the talk of the rugby union world after making light of expectations and the occasion at Twickenham on his Wallabies debut

Picture this; you’re 21-years-old, you’ve been the most talked about player in rugby union for a month straight, you’re playing your first senior game, your first of any kind in this code since you were a teenager, and you’ve just stepped out to start for your country at Twickenham, the home of rugby. We all know that elite athletes are cut from a different cloth but it’s worth lingering on the staggering set of circumstances that preceded Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii’s Test debut.

Simply not stinking up the place with a string of errors would have been enough. If he’d managed to hold onto the ball and land a few tackles then Joe Schmidt and Rugby Australia could have argued that there was tangible hope in a return of their substantial investment in this unproven prospect. He looked the part, all 1.98m and 98kg of him. But could he handle the bright lights and weight of expectation? We had our answer shortly before kick-off.

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The Breakdown | Sizing up four southern hemisphere giants before rugby’s autumn series

The Springboks want a clean sweep but Australia, Argentina and New Zealand may have more modest November targets

Four southern hemisphere giants are preparing for combat over the horizon. With 90% of all men’s World Cups, and having contributed more than 62% of the tournament’s semi-finalists since 1995, they arrive with reputations to uphold. Are they the forces they once were, or are they there for the taking?

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Relentless South Africa will not let up after claiming Rugby Championship

After beating Argentina to seal the title, the world champions will look to sweep England, Wales and Scotland

Two World Cups, a British & Irish Lions series and now the Rugby Championship. South Africa are in possession of every major trophy available to a southern-hemisphere team. Does this put them on par with the all-conquering All Blacks of Richie McCaw and Dan Carter? It is a question best unpacked over a second pint in the pub. That it is worth asking, though, is a testament to the evolution of this team under Rassie Erasmus and the potential heights they may yet reach.

This 48-7 win over Argentina included all the familiar notes of a Springboks classic. Their scrum consumed the Pumas pack with Ox Nché – a man who famously joked that “salads don’t win scrums” – feasting in the set piece, winning a string of first-half penalties seemingly on his own. Eben Etzebeth, now with a record 128 caps for his country, began the day with tears in his eyes and was totemic throughout. Pieter-Steph du Toit, who continues to produce player-of-the-match performances with his father’s hamstring surgically implanted in his left leg, bossed the breakdown and scored two of his team’s seven tries.

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The Breakdown | Ireland and South Africa should be mates but have rugby’s hottest rivalry

Next month’s Test double-header on South African soil will write a new chapter in an increasingly rancorous struggle

No sooner had Ireland claimed a 13-8 win over South Africa in the Rugby World Cup last year – an epic tussle in a tournament littered with all-time encounters – a thumping rendition of the Cranberries’ Zombie rang out around Stade de France. The song’s connections with the Troubles, the IRA and Ireland’s struggle for peace was lost on most South African fans that sweaty Saturday night in Paris. Their primary reaction to Ireland’s adopted anthem was rage.

“What’s in your heeeeaad, in your heeeeeeeaaaaad!” It was hard for them not to feel this was meant as a jibe; that the Irish, who have never seen their players lift the sport’s most glittering trophy, who had never even seen them reach the semi-finals of a World Cup, were rubbing South African noses in their success. That their No 1-ranked team had wormed their way into the subconscious of every South African by relegating the Boks to a stepping stone on their march to glory. The face of Rassie Erasmus, South African rugby’s god-king, said it all. He was seething. What was a friendly rivalry had now become personal.

This is an extract taken from our weekly rugby union email, the Breakdown. To sign up, just visit this page and follow the instructions.

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