{"id":542455,"date":"2026-07-10T09:04:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T09:04:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/542455\/"},"modified":"2026-07-10T09:04:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T09:04:13","slug":"matt-williams-if-sport-exists-to-teach-us-about-values-rugby-beat-football-last-weekend-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/542455\/","title":{"rendered":"Matt Williams: If sport exists to teach us about values, rugby beat football last weekend \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The opening matches of the newly minted Nations Championship<\/a> were simply sensational. Dramatic, action-packed, tries in abundance and outcomes only decided seconds before the full-time whistle. <\/p>\n

World Rugby<\/a> is rightly criticised for its recalcitrant attitude to reform in the game, but if the first round of this tournament is an indication then our governing body deserves a giant pat on the back. Every match of the new competition was pulsating with drama and entertainment. <\/p>\n

The contrast to the same day of the Fifa World Cup<\/a> could not have been more stark. Colombia and Ghana hardly set the world alight in their round-of-32 meeting before the overly physical tactics of Paraguay infuriated the French players<\/a> so much they refused to shake hands with their opponents after the match. <\/p>\n

In contrast to their soccer team, the French rugby players shook hands with New Zealand<\/a> in the wake of France\u2019s<\/a> narrow defeat, formed a tunnel of honour and clapped their opponents off the pitch.<\/p>\n

If sport is in the entertainment business, then last weekend rugby football was far ahead of association football. And if a major purpose of sport is to teach our youth about life values, then rugby was once again the winner.<\/p>\n

And as far as we know, World Rugby chairman Brett Robinson has yet to receive any phone calls from Donald Trump<\/a>. Even if he did, I am sure my former Emerging Wallabies roommate would not be swayed. So that makes it 3-0 to rugby.<\/p>\n

Before the opening Nations Championship match inside Christchurch\u2019s new stadium last Saturday, France had decided to rest their Toulouse players who had won the Top 14 Final a week before. In theory, that should have weakened the visitors, but the skill and bravery of the players Fabien Galthi\u00e9 selected almost won them a famous victory in a fabulous match. <\/p>\n

In Sydney, the Wallabies<\/a> and Ireland<\/a> put on an equally entertaining display<\/a>. However, if the truth be told it was a level below Christchurch in class.<\/p>\n

\"BenBen Donaldson of the Wallabies looks dejected as Tom O’Toole of Ireland celebrates victory in Sydney. Photograph: Mark Kolbe Photography\/Getty <\/p>\n

The Irish camp have said a win is a win, and they are right. But the reality was that Australia<\/a> lost that match. <\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s self-inflicted wounds came mostly from Carter Gordon and Ben Donaldson leaving 10 points behind them from missed kicks off the tee. Donaldson deserves great credit for having the courage to want to attempt two long-range penalties that would have won the Wallabies the match, but the harsh reality is that winning test matches requires a minimum of a 75 per cent goal-kicking success rate. <\/p>\n

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Ireland\u2019s defensive system gave up far too many line breaks, but very few back home have given the Australian attack the credit it deserves. Their first-half game plan was a template on how to break down the Irish defence. For the first time since Joe Schmidt<\/a> took charge, the Wallabies put the ball into Joseph Suaalii\u2019s hands on multiple occasions. While it is possible that some of the defensive dysfunction was caused by the Leinster<\/a> players adjusting to a new system, most of Ireland\u2019s problems were due to good planning from the Wallabies. What is undeniable is that unless the holes are fixed before Eden Park, Auckland, the Kiwis will put 50 points on Andy Farrell\u2019s<\/a> side on July 18.<\/p>\n

\"JamisonJamison Gibson-Park on his way to scoring Ireland’s third try of the match. Photograph: David Neilson\/INPHO <\/p>\n

In the opening half the Australians sliced through the Irish defence and scored some excellent tries. Hugo Keenan\u2019s<\/a> exceptional individual tackle on Suaalii denied the Wallabies what looked to be a certain try and the points that should have put them out of sight before the break.<\/p>\n

The five minutes before and after half time are known as the championship minutes. Points scored cause a huge shift in the momentum of a match. Jamison Gibson-Park\u2019s try seconds before half time turned the match for Ireland. It came at the end of a rare, but brilliant piece of cohesive multiphase Irish attack. While the Irish lineout spluttered, their maul and close-range pick-and-go plays were top shelf. However, the effectiveness of the majority of Ireland\u2019s phase attack was poor.<\/p>\n

As both teams entered the tunnel Ireland would not have believed they were still in the match and Australia could only have wondered why they were not out of sight.<\/p>\n

Success at Eden Park will require a massive lift in standards for Ireland. To have any chance in New Zealand, it is clear that Ireland must have two fit specialist wingers. Against Australia, Ireland appeared to be desperately vulnerable on their flanks, an area where the Kiwis are lethal.<\/p>\n

The McDonald Jones stadium in Newcastle, New South Wales, is roughly 180km north of Sydney. While Newcastle is surrounded by beautiful surfing beaches, it is an industrial town founded on coal mining and the production of steel. It is their equivalent of Pittsburg. It is in a region that has produced many Wallabies and Waratahs with a rugby community dating back to the 1800s.<\/p>\n

Novocastrians, as the locals are called, love their footy.<\/p>\n

Renovations to the McDonald Jones stadium has regrettably reduced its capacity to about 15,000. The many Irish who work in the mining and construction industries around Newcastle could fill the intimate stadium twice over. Packed with Irish voices, life will be tough on Saturday for the Japanese, who are fresh from an upset win over the Italians. <\/p>\n

While Ireland should win this match, Italy\u2019s defeat last week makes it clear teams must enter every match in this new Nations Championship competition with the strongest of mindsets \u2013 or failure awaits. If Ireland are focused on Eden Park then Newcastle could become as messy as the mines.<\/p>\n

Coached by the redoubtable Eddie Jones<\/a>, the Brave Blossoms are a team striving to gain recognition and consistency at the international level. The increased exposure to elite competition will undoubtedly increase standards.<\/p>\n

Just how much Japan have improved and how far Ireland have to go before the enormity of Eden Park will be revealed in Steel City.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The opening matches of the newly minted Nations Championship were simply sensational. Dramatic, action-packed, tries in abundance and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":542456,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1451,1452,61,60,1449,582,86133,1261,3654,112,53328],"class_list":["post-542455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-all-blacks","tag-france-rugby","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-ireland-rugby","tag-japan","tag-nations-championship","tag-new-zealand","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-wallabies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=542455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/542456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=542455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=542455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=542455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}