Quote Me On That

The Autumn Internationals hit their full stride with world champions South Africa imposing more suffering on France with victory and an impressive performance against a badly undercooked home side at The Stade de France.

Up in Edinburgh, Damien McKenzie was the party pooper who doused Murrayfield with cold water to end Scotland’s hopes of a first win over New Zealand.

Italy enjoyed another victory over Australia, while there were expected wins for England and Ireland, over Fiji and Japan, respectively.

Over in Dubai, Samoa and Belgium claimed victories over Brazil and Namibia as qualifying for the final Rugby World Cup 2027 place started.

Here’s our favourite soundbites of the week…

“We heard a lot in the media about that quarter-final, but within the group, we didn't discuss it at all. I think we need to move on and stop thinking about what happened two years ago. This match is less frustrating because it was 32-17. That's perhaps better; it will allow us to see what we can continue to work on in our game.”

France fullback Thomas Ramos thinks it’s time to leave the 2023 quarterfinal to history:

“A lot of people said the players are getting older, but they are wiser. We desperately wanted to win this game. Playing here (in France) is tough, but fortunately, we experienced it in 2022 and 2023, so the experience of the players, and both the team and the assistant coaches made plans.”

South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus claims age is no barrier to success:

“I’m gutted. I know how much goes into a performance like that so I’m proud of the group. I don’t want to get up here and say, ‘I’m proud of the group’ and ‘we played well’ because I think we’re a better team than that now.”

Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu sums up another defeat to New Zealand:

“You know, it wasn’t perfect, our execution wasn’t perfect, we could have put them away and could have been 30 points, but we were tough, and that’s what we’re really proud of.”

New Zealand coach Scott Robertson breaths a sigh of relief:

“Can’t wait, love playing against the best in the world. Obviously, it will be a battle of attrition. As years have gone by, they’ve been known for chucking the ball about, but they’ve got some big, physical lumps in there now as well.”

Stand-in England captain Ellis Genge is already onto the next assignment, New Zealand:

“It’s going to hurt the next 24, 48 hours and we’re going to have to let it hurt because we’ve got two big test matches to come and I know this group will be able to get up for it. We’re hurting. We wanted to fix up from last week, we said we’re going to fix it up and we didn’t. We want to be a team that does what we say we’re going to do, and we didn’t do that tonight.”

Wallabies captain Harry Wilson knows France and Ireland won’t ask how they are feeling:

“We knew it would be difficult to play a perfect match because we had little time to work and we were facing a team that had been playing together for months, but we did very well to compensate for the inaccuracies with the desire to fight and the ability to take advantage of every opportunity.”

Italy coach Gonzalo Quesada enjoyed what his team produced in Udine:

“It’s something we’ve got to be better at with what’s coming. Creating a few more opportunities but not finishing them off with the last pass is something else that needs cleaning up. But making the inroads in the first place is pleasing enough.”

Ireland coach Andy Farrell isn’t sweating their lack of incision:

“A player punched him in the game, he claims he grabbed him in a certain place, but there’s no evidence at all. He gets a nine-week ban, they go and appeal and he gets eight weeks without any evidence. “How can that work in any court of law… anything? I just think whoever’s running the referees, whoever’s running the judicial process is failing the game at the moment.”

Springbok great Victor Matfield questions how Jan-Hendrik Wessels ended up banned:

“When you look at Fitzy, he is a perfect example of work rate and a set of goals. He never came through the academy system and didn’t get picked up from Wellington College but went to Durham University and to get to there you have had to have done some work. He got his degree and worked his way from the fourth team to arrive here for a trial. He started to take everyone out, and it was the senior players who were asking me to pick him because of the way he was training.”

Bristol Bears DoR Pat Lam hails the rise of Fitz Harding to England A honours:

“A leader. A Springbok. A Shark through and through. With over 100 caps to his name, we say thank you to Lukhanyo Am for his years of dedication, leadership, and excellence in the black and white. You’ve left an indelible mark on this club, both on and off the field. Wishing you every success as you embark on your next chapter in Japan."

The Sharks bid Lukhanyo Am adieu ahead of his next adventure:

“We wanted to have a good start of the tournament. I said that when it was 17-3 or 17-0, I was not sure we were going to win because there was a really good team in front of us, but we kept fighting and the boys said to themselves ‘Yeah we stay alive, the adventure keeps going’.”

Belgium coach Laurent Dossat knows beating Namibia is only part one of RWC 2027 qualification:

“We just talked about it there (in the huddle after the game). We just need to savour the feeling and make sure we have our feet with the now and enjoy it and then move on to the next game.”

Samoa coach Tusi Pisi hails his team’s first win of the year: