Joe Schmidt is being enlisted and he’ll not hold back in providing all the ‘insider information’ possible. The All Blacks and Maoris will be brutal in their approach to each of the five matches scheduled. What effect that will have at Test level is for another day, but the reigning world champions are looking even stronger and in a better viable financial position as the defence of that Webb Ellis title and France ’23 comes firmly into view.įrom an Irish perspective, this upcoming tour to NZ is critical. The Bulls (Northern Transvaal) and Stormers (Western Province) have laid down the most telling marker at the first time of asking, so watch it take off from here. With increasing income and a regeneration in spectator interest, rugby is set to return to its pre-eminent position in the Rainbow Republic. If nothing else, the weekend defeats in the RDS and Newlands have left rugby fans with a clearer picture on how difficult winning the URC will prove. With so many South African players playing overseas, allied to the decision to exit Super Rugby in the Southern Hemisphere, it is easy to see how that hugely mistaken impression evolved. I suspect many of the younger rugby fans have been hoodwinked into thinking South African provincial rugby at Currie Cup level is somewhat below Celtic Cup rugby in all its various manifestations over the years. The less said about Munster’s pitiful offering, the better, but Ulster and Leinster, at least, did deliver to some degree without actually making it through to the grand final now set for Cape Town this coming Saturday.

Certainly for those carrying knocks, and I am thinking of specifically Tadhg Furlong, Rónan Kelleher and James Lowe, possibly Robert Baloucoune too, the abrupt finish could prove timely following a most disappointing penultimate weekend to the maiden URC season.

Future bigger picture