Summer of Rugby - What Have We Learnt?

After an unbelievable Summer of rugby, in both Southern and Northern hemisphere, rugby is looking on a high Britain. At the same time it is a game in a period of transition, and there are a few things that we have learnt over the last few months that are changing the face of Rugby.

1. Even Rugby Players are Sensitive

Brian O'Driscoll, has admitted in an interview with Sky Sports that he still feels resentment for Warren Gatland over the decision to drop him from the final test in Australia. I rate BOD as highly as anyone else a believe he is probably the greatest 13 of all time, but it's time to stop going on about it now. He played very well on the tour; defensively he as outstanding, not missing a tackle in the two tests that he did play. Jonathan Davies also had a very strong tour and fully deserved that shirt as much as O'Driscoll. The choice that Gatland went with gained O'Driscoll his first ever series win. So Brian don't moan be glad that you finally got the win down under as a squad.

2. Money is Taking Over

Whether you like it or not, the game is becoming more and more like football. The richer French clubs pricing everyone else out of the market, by paying top Euro for the best talent, with Jonny Sexton on a reported 600,000 Euro a year at Racing Metro. If these reports are to be believed, if Sexton was on that in Wales he would be taking up one seventh of the £3.5 million each region can afford. It is no wonder that the Welsh teams cannot compete with these teams in Europe and it is becoming like football in the way that teams are virtually buying trophies. We are also beginning to see transfer fees come into play, although very minimally the £200,000 spent on George North is nothing on the £86 million spent on Gareth Bale but it is a slippery slope. At the very bottom of that slope you'll find the mess that football is in, it is a issue that rugby needs to tackle early.

3. The Rule Changes

The dark arts of the scrum are only completely known to those who put their head in there. However, from the outset it looks like a step in the right direction, effectively taking away 'the hit' both for safety of players and fans alike. Players whose necks were being punished by 'the hit' and before long someone would have been seriously injured, and fans who were so bored they could have seriously injured themselves. The 2013 Six Nations match between Wales and Scotland was a prime example, the scrum had become a joke and resulted 28 penalties a record for penalties in a match. If the scrum changes get rid of that and allow more creative back play then I'm on board but I have a feeling this won't be the last we hear of it. Another rule change worth mentioning is the TMO changes, the TV Match Official can now go back further in the build-up to a try to check for reasons to disallow it. Pick your own side on this one, happy to see more accurate decisions or will it slow the game down too much, again watch this space.

4. The All Blacks are a Different Class

The Lions celebrated their win down under with the enthusiasm you would expect after the first successful tour in sixteen years. I can't help thinking that some of that enthusiasm was knocked ever so slightly when they saw what the All Blacks did just a month or so later. Beating them 47-29, making some of the rugby look unbelievably easy at times, and this was without one Daniel Carter. The Rugby Championship is looking powerful right now, although I've said the All Blacks are a different class, the Springboks are hot in their heels and September 14 will be the game of the championship quite possibly when South Africa visit New Zealand.

5. But there is Hope for the Northern Hemisphere.....

We won the Lions series convincingly in the end although not against the best Wallaby side, but you can only beat who's in front of you and it was still a side with some big names in. The main reason for optimism however, came a few weeks before the Lions victory. June 23 the final of the Under 20 World Cup, the two teams in the final, England and Wales, who beat New Zealand and South Africa respectively in the Semi's. England won the trophy, after a brilliant second half display, but the importance remains the fact that the final was contested between two Northern Hemisphere sides with the 'Baby Blacks' not in contention. Surely there is reason for hope as we head into the Autumn Internationals.