England smell an opportunity against New Zealand as Ireland and Wales face tough task against South Africa and Australia live on Sky Sports | Rugby Union News

England have a great chance to beat the All Blacks on New Zealand soil; Ireland struggle after a gruelling opening Test against the Springboks; pressure mounts on Warren Gatland as win-shy Wales look underpowered; Watch the Southern Hemisphere Summer Tour live on Sky Sports

Steve Borthwick’s England smell an opportunity ahead of their second Test match against the All Blacks, while Ireland and Wales face tough tasks in their series against South Africa and Australia respectively, all of which are live on TV. Sky Sport….

England smells big chance to beat All Blacks on New Zealand soil

In the final quarter of last week’s Test match between New Zealand and England in Dunedin, Borthwick’s youngsters were on a winning streak and were presented with a huge opportunity to win on New Zealand soil for the first time since 2003.

They lost by a point and there is no denying that it was a huge missed opportunity. But once the frustration has subsided, England will know they are more than in the mix, and the All Blacks are the ones under immense pressure from their media and public ahead of the second and final Test at Eden Park.

Before last autumn’s Rugby World Cup in France, and even during the World Cup, England under Borthwick would probably have been beaten comfortably by New Zealand. But this is not that All Blacks team, and England are playing differently now.

All Blacks rugby legends such as Sam Whitelock, Brodie Retallick, Dane Coles and Aaron Smith have retired, while others such as Richie Mo’unga, Shannon Frizzell, Leicester Fainga’anuku and Nepo Laulala have left to play overseas.

New Zealand also have a new head coach in Scott Robertson, who will undoubtedly continue to find his feet in the Test rugby landscape.

Meanwhile, a poor start under Borthwick, which saw England finish fourth in the 2023 Six Nations competition after three defeats and lose 2023 Rugby World Cup friendlies to Wales and Fiji, has led to a much more positive outlook for the 2024 Six Nations competition.

Andy Farrell’s denial of Ireland’s chance of back-to-back Grand Slams felt like a turning point for Borthwick’s team. They dominated the game against top-quality opposition and wanted to put their rugby on the front foot rather than using negative tactics.

At the back, Cardiff-born Immanuel Feyi-Waboso looks set to be a game-changer, while the Northampton trio of Alex Mitchell, George Furbank and Tommy Freeman are increasingly influential. Inside centre Ollie Lawrence has the potential to become one of the best in his position in the world.

Chandler Cunningham-South is a player with huge potential in the forwards, while George Martin looks set to be a mainstay of the England team for years to come. The likes of Maro Itoje and Sam Underhill are also getting close to their 2019 form.

Seven of the last 18 England vs New Zealand games have been in New Zealand for seven All Black victories. This is England’s best chance.

Ireland are sidelined after tough opening test against South Africa

Ireland were already without four key players heading into the final to face the World Cup-winning Springboks. Full-back Hugo Keenan, scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park, wing Mack Hansen and number 8 Jack Conan were missing. Ireland’s outlook has only become more pessimistic since their frustrating opening Test defeat in Pretoria.

Hooker Dan Sheehan (ACL knee) and starting scrumhalf Craig Casey (concussion) have been ruled out of the second and final Test with serious injuries as the men in green push hard for victory. After a tough physical opening Test, there will surely be more players struggling at the end of an extremely long season.

Ireland had performed well and stayed in the first test phase, but then suffered two controversial TMO decisions which left the match wide open.

Welsh TMO Ben Whitehouse ruled out a try by James Lowe for Ireland due to a subjective breakdown call, and was then told there was ‘inconclusive evidence’ to rule out a try by Cheslin Kolbe for South Africa, which gave the Boks a two-score lead.

Lowe’s try had made it 13-13, with fly-half Jack Crowley converting for the lead, while Kolbe’s try came moments later when Lowe saved a Handre Pollard penalty, forcing him to touch the ball infield. However, replays showed he did touch the ball as he played it.

With both decisions going against them and them ultimately losing by seven points, Ireland will undoubtedly be extremely frustrated, possibly even angry, as they don’t seem to have the energy and resources to turn things around in a week.

“I’m not allowed to say, but I’ve seen a few of them live and had my doubts, but that’s life,” head coach Andy Farrell has since admitted.

“We’re going through the right channels and making sure we do things right in terms of those things. You make of it what you want. Bad luck, good luck, that’s the game too.

“You decide for yourself whether he (Lowe) still had the ball in his right hand or whether the ball hit him when he threw it back into the field and his foot was still in contact.

“That’s something we all have to debate. It is what it is, that’s the sport, it’s difficult to referee. You just want consistency, that’s all.”

Pressure mounts on Gatland as profit-shy Wales look underperforming

It is truly remarkable how far Wales’ performance has slipped.

They have gone from an outdated team that once challenged everyone and was regularly successful to a team with a lot of inexperience that currently seems unable to score wins.

Indeed, Warren Gatland’s Wales are on a seven-game losing streak. And it’s the manner in which they are doing it that is most worrying.

This current run began at the October World Cup in France, where Wales, blessed with a weaker position, played and lost to Argentina. Argentina then lost the World Cup semi-final to New Zealand 44-6.

In the 2024 Six Nations tournament, Wales lost all five matches, including for the second time in a row against Italy in Cardiff. Wales won the medal for the first time since 2003.

Last week they played Australia, the weakest of the three Wallabies, and Joe Schmidt, the new head coach, had only had the group together for five days. Wales never looked like they could win, despite losing 25-16.

Gatland may have led Wales to three Six Nations Grand Slams and two World Cup semi-finals in his first spell as manager, but he is a man under immense pressure. There are growing calls for change.

“We just have to keep working hard. That’s (11th in the world rankings) where we are at the moment,” Gatland said this week.

“We know that we go through a process when we play at the highest level, where we have to learn to deal with pressure.

“It’s just a matter of arm wrestling. That takes a little bit of time in terms of on-the-field stuff. I’ve been through that in the past with other teams. Once you get over the line, players in the team learn that understanding and they turn those close games into Ws (wins). That’s what we’ve got to work through at the moment.”

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