Ten tries to nil. That was the tally between Tri Nations teams and Six Nations teams in the last week of November, as the former racked up 82 points to 39 in the three internationals played.

By general standards, the home teams have done well to scrape three wins from the 11 games they've played against Tri Nations teams this Autumn, and scrape they did, in two instances failing to cross the line whilst their opponents did manage to do so.

Meanwhile, the tourists have won most of their games in style.

In fact, what must be worrying for Six Nations fans is that Italy was the only one among them which did manage a try in the last weekend of November. The combined forces of France, Ireland, Wales and Scotland could not do that.

Could this have something to do with the standard of club rugby in the Northern Hemisphere? A leading coach recently criticised English club rugby, comments roundly dismissed by the British, who are more interested in drawing comparisons with SANZAR's franchise-based Super 14 and taking pot shots at it.

They claim parity on paper, say they have had the best players, teams and eras in history, etc. But, on grass, it's the Tri Nations which continue to dominate. And the players have probably had something to do with that.

Unless the Tri Nations win - comfortably - every time they play a Six Nations team, at home or away, we start hearing 'gap closing,' 'tables turned' rubbish. Regrettably for the international game, it is entirely unfounded.

If anything it has gone the other way since the advent of professionalism (and shamateurism a decade before it).

Even the IRB rankings show only a marginal widening of the gap since their inception six years ago, by virtue of England's demise and South Africa's rise.

Little else has changed in rugby's somewhat too stagnant world order - Argentina's progress notwithstanding.

Good to see Argentina and Italy doing well, at least. The Pumas, like the Island teams, were not well-prepared for this tour and have been without some top players, but they still managed to succeed where the Wallabies failed, with a victory at 'Muddyfield.'


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