By Nick Mulvenney
SYDNEY, June 18 (Reuters) – The apparent closing of the gap
between the northern and southern hemisphere rugby teams evident
at the weekend is in part the result of a change in scheduling,
according to Wales defence coach Shaun Edwards.
Wales and Ireland lost to Australia and New Zealand in
heartbreaking fashion on Saturday, undone by dramatic late kicks
to fall to unrecoverable 2-0 deficits in their respective
three-match series.
The closeness of the matches in Melbourne and Christchurch,
as well as England’s competitiveness despite going 2-0 down in
their series against South Africa, suggested to many that
northern hemisphere teams were improving.
Edwards, however, said that outside the World Cup and before
the reintroduction of the three-test series in June, the
southern hemisphere had always enjoyed a distinct advantage in
meetings with European teams.
“If you look at the results over the years, the strength has
been in the southern hemisphere,” he told a news conference.
“But you have to look at the preparation that the southern
hemisphere teams have compared to the northern hemisphere teams.
“The only time we compete on a level footing is at the World
Cup … Every year, the Australians, New Zealanders and South
Africans have four months together before finishing in the UK at
the end of November.
“The northern hemisphere teams sometimes just have a week to
prepare for those games.
Continued…
