We had just won the Triple Crown and had had nothing like as tough a club season as the Scots have had. The All Blacks gave us a severe hammering, our coaches Tony Gray and Derek Quinnell were fired and it took us years to recover from it.And we were a far better team then than Scotland are at the moment. Apart from that glorious day when they beat England at Murrayfield, the Scots have not had a good season on the international front or at club level. At Murrayfield on Wednesday night, the Barbarians slaughtered them in the first half.

The Scots showed a lot of character to make a game of it in the second half, but I wince at the thought of them facing New Zealand.The All Blacks will still be smarting at their disappointment in the Rugby World Cup and will be busting to prove a point. The fact that Canterbury have just won the Super 12s shows how much on form they are. No wonder the bookies are not even taking bets on the outcome.England will also face a tough ride in South Africa. The South Africans did not have a good World Cup either and smashing England would be pleasant compensation for them. I don’t think the English players either need or deserve that sort of conflict after the season they have had at all levels.They may well take the opportunity to blood some youngsters but the dangers awaiting them far outweigh any advantages to be gained from the tour.Ireland, who played Argentina yesterday and travel to play the United States next week, are not involved against anything like such fearsome opposition as England and Scotland, but they have faced tough games and they certainly did not need such a long haul.It was good to see an attractive Baa-Baas team in action against Scotland – wouldn’t it have been a better idea for our international sides to have stayed home and played a couple of games against them. The unions could have pocketed some useful gate money, we could have seen some entertaining, non-violent, rugby and maybe picked up a few Lions pointers in the process.Better that than volunteering to face the firing squads..

Northampton prop Martin Scelzo delivered the killer blow as battling Ireland were beaten again by their World Cup conquerors Argentina in Buenos Aires last night. Northampton prop Martin Scelzo delivered the killer blow as battling Ireland were beaten again by their World Cup conquerors Argentina in Buenos Aires last night.
Warren Gatland’s men, who trailed 8-5 at half-time, led three times in the second half against the Pumas who were quarter-final winners at Lansdowne Road when the sides last met.But the Irish wilted late in the game, and tries from Scelzo – who powered over from close range – and right-wing Octavio Bartolucci saw Argentina run out relatively comfortable winners.Left-wing Justin Bishop and centre Rob Henderson both crossed after the break as the lead see-sawed between the sides, and Ireland led 18-17 when the fly-half David Humphreys – having missed three conversions and apenalty – finally landed a penalty. But Ireland, who will complete their three-Test tour with matches against the USA and Canada, faded badly at the death.Pumas fly-half Gonzalo Quesada missed an early conversion attempt after full-back Ignacio Carleto had claimed the opening try of the game but then found his range to contribute 19 points with five penalties and two conversions.Argentina made the early running, and the Irish had to ride their luck. The Pumas went ahead in the 14th minute with a try from full-back Carleto. The Irish scrum, under increasing pressure, were turned, and Pumas captain and scrum-half Agustin Pichot took a short pass from No 8 Gonzalo Longo before delivering an inch-perfect kick to the corner where Carleto touched down. Quesada missed with the conversion, but Ireland were5-0 down and already facing an uphill battle.Ireland stunned the Pumas by drawing level with an O’Kelly try in the 21st minute.