Twenty-one matches fell under the Autumn Nations Series banner and, as usual with the end-of-year Test window, some of the matches were absolute crackers, while others had virtually been forgotten about and consigned to rugby’s equivalent of Room 101 no sooner had the final whistle been blown.
The new law trials introduced by World Rugby earlier in the year were rolled out in November, with the same aim of quickening up the game and reducing the amount of ‘dead’ time in matches.
Whilst official figures have yet to be announced, it seems that speeding up the time it takes to form a lineout or a scrum, amongst other measures, has had the desired effect.
Only three of the 48 matches at Rugby World Cup 2023 topped 40 minutes of game time and the average per match was just 34 minutes 18 seconds, while in the Autumn Nations Series just under a quarter of games (four out of 21) fell into that category and the average ball-in-play time went up by 8% (37 minutes, 11 seconds).
Increased ball-in-play time does not always make for a better spectacle or equate to entertainment, but the chances are you’ll get more for your money than stodgy, stop-start affairs.
Referees are often sticklers for following new law trials to the letter in the early stages of a competition/new Test windows, and, interestingly, three of the four 40 minutes-plus matches were in the first eight matches. Only one of the last 13 passed the ‘BIP’ barometer.
As a contest, Wales’ record 52-20 home defeat to Australia was as one-sided as they come and suffered as a spectacle as a result. However, it was the match with the highest BIP time over the Autumn Nations Series, clocking 42 minutes and 19 seconds.
All four of the highest-ranking matches were of a similar ilk. The ball was in play for 41 minutes and 14 seconds in Argentina’s 50-18 win away to Italy and France’s 52-12 win at home to Japan, while Scotland’s 57-17 rout of Fiji at Murrayfield clocked 41 minutes, two seconds.
In terms of entertainment, the two best games were arguably Australia’s dramatic 42-37 comeback win against England and France’s 30-29 victory against the All Blacks. The Ella-Mobbs Cup match ranked sixth for BIP (39 mins, 44 secs), while the Paris epic was down in 12th (37 mins, 15 secs).
Only one match fell below 30 minutes for BIP time (29 mins, 33 secs) – Scotland’s 27-13 win over Australia, which was anything but a dud.
It was a painful November for long-suffering England fans, meanwhile, who paid through the nose to watch three matches that featured in the bottom 10 for BIP time.
Arguably the worst game from an entertainment point of view was the error-strewn contest between Ireland and New Zealand. That ranked third-bottom for BIP time, at 31 mins and 54 secs.
