Rugby’s battle of the hemispheres: South can turn the tide in July

Northern hemisphere nations won bragging rights in 2021 but with 12 Tests over the next three weekends things could soon look very different

CHANCES AWAIT: James Lowe, Ireland face the All Blacks in their first test this Saturday. Photo: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

BACK at the end of November the evidence seemed pretty conclusive. France and Ireland had just beaten New Zealand on successive weekends, England had knocked over South Africa and Australia while Scotland and Wales had also defeated the Wallabies. Looking down the list of results it felt as if the “battle of the hemispheres” had swung decisively towards the north.

And now? We are about to discover whether any northern smugness was premature or if it was truly a sign of the times. If Ireland win a best-of-three series in New Zealand it would make a colossal statement. And should England, having muddled through the Six Nations, inflict more woe on the Wallabies it would do wonders for the pre-Rugby World Cup confidence of Eddie Jones’s squad.