One juggernaut rolled on this week, while another rolled over. We also had the draw for the 2023 World Cup confirmed and three seemingly disparate events are potentially all connected and potentially destined to converge in a dramatic outcome.
The juggernaut that rolled on was the Crusaders. The onethat rolled over was England and the draw reminded everyone that more than ever, the game needs a landmark occasion and the World Cup in 2023 is destined to carry extra significance given the disruption which has been experienced since last year.
Where these three points possibly converge is Scott Robertson being head-hunted to shift from Christchurch to London to grab hold of an under performing and unimaginative England team later this year and reposition them as unpredictable and creative by the time they go to France in 2023.
That thought must be starting to form in the minds of a few key English executives.
The Rugby Football Union has made a long-term commitment to Eddie Jones but the irascible Australian is taking England backwards.
Three games into their Six Nations campaign and England have lost to Scotland and Wales. That's enough by itself to put Jones' neck in the metaphoric noose.
But the results are only half the problem. England have the habits of the schoolyard bully, but none of the mentality.
They have played with a stunningly narrow vision that makes everyone wonder whether Jones, a brilliant and innovative thinker, is suffering from the coaching equivalent of writer's block.
England at the moment can't win big games and they certainly can't win the hearts of the casual rugby fan, meekly asking for lunch money and then lacking the conviction or ability to actually forcefully take it when the opposition say no.
At the moment, observing paint dry comes first, looking at grass grow second and watching England play rugby a distant third. This at a time when coffers are empty and rugby is in desperate fight for the entertainment dollar.
Jones survived a similar episode of under-performance before – when there was discontent at England HQ after a catastrophically bad Six Nations in 2018 where they finished fifth and then lost a series to South Africa.
Jones survived that as he had pre-empted that there may be a slump in his third-year – warned his employer it was inevitable after such an initially strong two years – and did indeed bounce England back into top form later that year.
But Jones is in year six with England and that makes it imperative to ask whether he's simply hit the wall this time – lost his ability to poke about inside his players' heads and bring them towards his vision.
It might be that he no longer has a vision and his employer has a massive decision to make whether they back him through another two years or decide it's time for a fresh start.
Former All Blacks coach Steve Hansen long argued that international teams should make coaching changes in the middle of World Cup cycles. He reckoned that the impact would be greater doing that – and England surely must be wondering what would happen if they ousted Jones after the Six Nations and brought in Robertson?
The Crusaders have been unstoppable under Scott Robertson. Photo / Photosport
If nothing else, England would at least have a more defined sense of purpose and a game-plan that made sense as well as exciting the players and fans.
Razor, on the basis of the Crusaders' first performance in Super Rugby Aotearoa 2021, has a magical means of invigorating players, reimagining gameplans and hitting on a higher purpose vision that keeps everyone chasing the impossible.
The Crusaders didn't flow quite how they wanted against the Highlanders but the unmissable key to their victory was the commitment of their defence. They threw themselves about in such a way that it was impossible not to be impressed and while there was some forgettable execution on attack, so too were there deadly clinical strikes in the first half.
The speed and skill at the heart of their first two tries was extraordinary – the second one in particular coming directly off a scrum was testament to the belief, confidence and skill-sets of a team that has a depth of understanding about what their coach wants them to do.
And on that basis, imagine what Razor could do with England.
He could leave one juggernaut, get behind the wheel of another and drive them to France 2023 as a nearly unstoppable force.
