Rugby: Early Rugby World Cup exits catalyst for change

The All Blacks are constantly evolving. Photo / Getty Images

Gregor Paul in Dublin

From the ashes of the Northern Hemisphere's disappointing World Cup, a phoenix has arisen.

The Six Nations failed en masse at the last tournament, not one making the last four, and the Northern Hemisphere had to take a long, hard look at where they were going wrong.

If there was a simple answer as to what the difference between the two hemispheres was, it probably could be said the northern teams lacked confidence and ability in their passing games.

That's what it came down to in the end - that one missing piece. The set-piece battles were all fairly even; the breakdown was always fiercely contested and not the decisive factor. But there were many occasions when the northern sides had a half-chance but lacked the passing, timing and awareness to exploit the situation.

They were all a little laboured and clumsy when it came to the art of pass and catch - way behind New Zealand, Australia, Argentina and even South Africa.

Painful to endure at the time, the Southern Hemisphere's dominance of the 2015 World Cup has been the making of the northern teams.

All the Six Nations were forced to look at how they were playing and ask whether they had the skills required to win the next tournament.

The answer they concluded was no, and in the past two years, the Six Nations has changed. Many of the games have been more open, more flowing, with more risks being taken.

There hasn't been a revolution, more a steady improvement in the basic skills which has led to greater confidence to exploit half-chances.

Ireland are a classic case in point. They continue to play a largely lower risk game where they hold on to the ball for long periods, hoping to finally find a weak point to attack.

It is patient, grinding rugby, but when the time comes, they are vastly improved at recognising and capitalising on opportunities.

"There are small margins between the top five or six teams in the world, and while most people might not agree with that, I have been saying it for a couple of years," said All Blacks coach Steve Hansen.

"The best thing to happen to Northern Hemisphere rugby was not making either of the semifinals in the World Cup.

"Ireland were particularly disappointed about their World Cup. They went in there with high hopes. They were a performing team but had some injuries and maybe they didn't play as well as they would've liked. But they have come back strong.

"England have come back strong. They won 18 in a row. They have a good team, and France are starting to get their stuff together, so when you've got teams who are raising the bar and playing each other regularly, it has got to be good for you.

"The standard of rugby worldwide has got better."

This weekend's clash in Dublin will provide the best evidence yet of how far Ireland have come since they were dumped out of the 2015 World Cup quarter-finals by Argentina.

But no matter what happens, the northern teams will have to be conscious of the fact the All Blacks' game plan never stops evolving.

So while the skills gap may appear to have closed, by September next year, the All Blacks could be a different team again.

"We are not holding back too much stuff at the moment," said Hansen. "We are probably introducing new stuff, which is making us a bit scrappy, and it takes a while to get that.

"So it is a balance of waiting long enough and introducing it early enough so that you can actually master what you want to do."