Stephen Ferris previews this weekend’s autumn internationals

The English club game under threat

The Gallagher Premiership seems to be in turmoil. Worcester Warriors were the first team to go into administration which saw several players fighting for their careers. Then suddenly Wasps went into administration too, and before you know it the English club game seems to be on its knees. Will all this negative attention influence how the English national team perform over the next few weeks?

First up they have Argentina at 2.15pm on Sunday afternoon. If England don’t prodduce a dominant display and win, then the ‘Eddie Jones Out’ bandwagon will start to gather momentum once again.

Red jersey will inspire Wales against All Blacks

The Welsh sides have continued to struggle in their domestic league. Scarlets are rock bottom, Ospreys and Cardiff are mid-table, while the Dragons are having a bit of a resurgence after a poor start.

So, how does Wayne Pivac get all his Welsh players pumped up and ready for New Zealand on Saturday? It’s a question we have asked for years about Wales. However, they just seem to come together and play at a different level when they pull on that famous red jersey. The Principality Stadium will be rocking as always with not a spare seat to be had. Can Wales shock New Zealand? We will have to wait and see.

Finn Russell omission a strange decision by Townsend

Once again Scotland have made the headlines for the wrong reasons. Gregor Townsend decided not to pick Finn Russell in his autumn squad which has left a lot of players, fans and pundits alike totally baffled. The rumour mill has started about the spat between the Scottish head coach and Russell, which raised its head a couple of years ago after words between the two were exchanged.

Now it seems Townsend is sticking the knife in for a second time. After some quality individual performances by Russell for Racing 92 it really does feel that it’s becoming personal. Scotland need their best players in every game if they are to beat the Southern Hemisphere teams or compete at a Rugby World Cup. It’s a very strange call.

Just off the back of a narrow loss to Australia, you would expect Scotland to do a number on Fiji at 1pm on Saturday. Eight days later they face the All Blacks, and this will really be the litmus test to see what this Scottish side are made of.

Let’s now talk briefly about the No 1 team in the world – Ireland. A summer tour of New Zealand had every Irish fan dreaming of a series win and would you believe it, Ireland went ahead and did it, breaking records and inflicting New Zealand’s biggest home loss in more than 150 Test matches. The last time the All Blacks lost a Test series at home was in 1994 to France, so it just shows you how good this Irish team have become.

Springboks power a true test for buoyant Irish

Ireland welcome 2019 Rugby World Cup winners South Africa to the Aviva Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Hopefully the weather plays ball and Ireland can move this gargantuan Springbok pack of forwards around every square inch of the pitch. That’s easier said than done when you have the likes of Eben Etzebeth, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Malcolm Marx and Jasper Wiese wanting to knock you into next week at every opportunity they get. South Africa will always turn to their power game, something that Ireland have potentially struggled with in previous encounters against big, physical teams.

Ireland have a few big men of their own; Tadgh Furlong, James Ryan and Andrew Porter to name a few. However, it’s the strength and depth behind Ireland’s starting XV that will be questioned at times during this series. If Ireland can continue to build on their already rock-solid foundations, then you would like to think they can win all three of their Autumn Nations games. But we all know that the South African game feels like it’s the only one that really matters.

Saturday 5th November:

Scotland vs Fiji – 1pm

Wales vs New Zealand – 3.15pm

Ireland vs South Africa – 5.30pm

France vs Australia – 7pm

Sunday 6th November:

England vs Argentina – 2.15pm

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