EACH of the four Home Nations signed off their Autumn Internationals campaign with a victory at the weekend as they laid down a marker ahead of the World Cup in Japan next year.
Wales beat South Africa 20-11 for their ninth win in a row as they completed a first ever November clean sweep following earlier wins over Scotland, Australia, and Tonga.
The Welsh led 14-3 at half-time following tries in the opening quarter of an hour for prop Tomas Francis and full-back Liam Williams.
And, although South Africa responded with a second half try from centre Jessie Kriel, replacement Dan Biggar kicked two late penalties to seal a fourth successive win for Warren Gatland's men over the Springboks.
Wales thus consolidated third position in the IRB World Rankings behind defending world champions Zealand and long-time Northern Hemisphere standard bearers Ireland.
The Irish - even by their own recent high standards - have had a phenomenal year with a Grand Slam in the Six Nations in the spring and a 2-1 away series win over Australia in the summer.
Gladly, the Autumn Internationals also went to plan for Joe Schmidt's men as they enjoyed comfortable wins over Italy and Argentina ahead of a seminal clash against the All Blacks.
Ireland had never beaten New Zealand at home having only won against them for the first time ever in 2016 on neutral territory in Chicago.
But, just 10 months before the next World Cup starts, Ireland now have another win in the bank over the All Blacks.
Ulster wing Jacob Stockdale scored the only try and, more impressively still, the Irish prevented Steve Hansen's men from crossing their own line in an incredibly intense contest at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
It all means that success at a World Cup is pretty much the only thing to have eluded Ireland under Schmidt.
But, having demonstrated their strength in depth by breezing past the United States with what was a much-changed XV, surely the Irish will at least reach the semi finals for the first time next year.
England, by contrast, remain a work in progress under Eddie Jones.
For sure, three wins out of four makes for pretty decent reading overall - but, in both of the wins against South Africa and Australia, talisman Owen Farrell was extremely fortunate not to face sanction for two injudicious shoulder tackles.
Certainly, the missed foul play against the Springboks proved to be more critical moment overall as England prevailed by a single point.
But, to be fair, under pressure Wallabies coach Michael Cheika has a right to be aggrieved by the non-award of a penalty try which would have put his team into a lead at the break.
Instead, England made the most of their fortune as Elliot Daly, Joe Cokanasiga, and Farrell scored second half tries for an ultimately comfortable 37-18 victory.
Another reverse for the Aussies, meanwhile, piles massive pressure on their coach Cheika with him having overseen their worst ever year in history in terms of Test defeats.
Indeed, in successive years now, Australia have been handsomely beaten at Twickenham by an aggregate of 43 points.
And, regardless of complaints about the officials' decisions in London, Australian rugby union appears to be in desperate shape right now.
Not too long ago, Scotland were also thoroughly in the doldrums.
Of course, the Scots' defeats to Wales and South Africa this month have clearly showed that there is still much work to be done by coach Gregor Townsend.
However, the eight-try 54-17 triumph over Pacific islanders Fiji was every bit as convincing as it sounds - and, against Argentina on Saturday, Towsend's men produced the only moment of real quality in the match when Sean Maitland went over in the corner.
Elsewhere, this autumn:
- Italy achieved the bare minimum expected from their four matches, scoring four tries in a 28-17 win over Georgia, the team often touted to replace them in the Six Nations. In their other matches the Azzurri were kept to single figures by Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.
- By contrast, World Cup hosts Japan demonstrated far more competitiveness this autumn despite three defeats which suggest they somewhat run out of steam. Nevertheless, the Cherry Blossoms held a 15-10 half time lead over England at Twickenham before a comeback after interval by the hosts - and, overall, the Japanese scored a very creditable 15 tries in their four matches.
- France suffered a major embarrassment in front of their own fans at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis as they went down to a 21-14 defeat against the attack-minded Fiji. Another earlier narrow home defeat against South Africa means Les Bleus won only one of their three fixtures this autumn.
- That French win came against Argentina who also lost to Ireland and Scotland, making it one win in nine matches for Los Pumas in the Northern Hemisphere since 2016.
Certainly then, it feels as if the extraordinary Southern Hemisphere feat of having had all four World Cup semi finalists in 2015 will not be repeated next year.
Undoubtedly, New Zealand remain the team to beat - but Ireland, and South Africa earlier this year, have proved it can be done.
Wales' winning streak means they are no longer under the radar, while England and Scotland can also take some confidence from their respective campaigns.
The contenders appear ready then - and, just as well, for there are now only 299 days until the action in Japan kicks off.
AUTUMN INTERNATIONALS
WEEK-BY-WEEK RESULTS
27 October
| (T2) | JAPAN | 28-31 | WORLD XV | (-) | Hanazono Stadium, Osaka |
| (T1) | NEW ZEALAND | 37-20 | AUSTRALIA | (T1) | Nissan Stadium, Yokohama |
3 November
| (T2) | JAPAN | 31-69 | NEW ZEALAND | (T1) | Ajinomoto Stadium, Chōfu |
| (T1) | WALES | 21-10 | SCOTLAND | (T1) | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff |
| (T1) | ENGLAND | 12-11 | SOUTH AFRICA | (T1) | Twickenham, London |
| (T1) | IRELAND | 54-7 | ITALY | (T1) | Soldier Field, Chicago |
10 November
| (T1) | ITALY | 28-17 | GEORGIA | (T2) | Stadio Artemio Franchi, Florence |
| (T1) | SCOTLAND | 54-17 | FIJI | (T2) | Murrayfield, Edinburgh |
| (T1) | ENGLAND | 15-16 | NEW ZEALAND | (T1) | Twickenham, London |
| (T1) | WALES | 9-6 | AUSTRALIA | (T1) | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff |
| (T1) | IRELAND | 28-17 | ARGENTINA | (T1) | Aviva Stadium, Dublin |
| (T1) | FRANCE | 26-29 | SOUTH AFRICA | (T1) | Stade de France, Saint-Denis |
17 November
| (T1) | ITALY | 7-26 | AUSTRALIA | (T1) | Stadio Euganeo, Padua |
| (T1) | WALES | 74-24 | TONGA | (T2) | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff |
| (T1) | ENGLAND | 35-15 | JAPAN | (T2) | Twickenham, London |
| (T1) | SCOTLAND | 20-26 | SOUTH AFRICA | (T1) | Murrayfield, Edinburgh |
| (T1) | IRELAND | 16-9 | NEW ZEALAND | (T1) | Aviva Stadium, Dublin |
| (T1) | FRANCE | 28-13 | ARGENTINA | (T1) | Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Villeneuve-d'Ascq |
24 November
| (T1) | ITALY | 3-66 | NEW ZEALAND | (T1) | Stadio Olimpico, Rome |
| (T2) | JAPAN | 32-27 | RUSSIA | (T2) | Kingsholm Stadium, Gloucester |
| (T1) | SCOTLAND | 14-9 | ARGENTINA | (T1) | Murrayfield, Edinburgh |
| (T1) | ENGLAND | 37-18 | AUSTRALIA | (T1) | Twickenham, London |
| (T1) | WALES | 20-11 | SOUTH AFRICA | (T1) | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff |
| (T1) | IRELAND | 57-14 | UNITED STATES | (T2) | Aviva Stadium, Dublin |
| (T1) | FRANCE | 14-21 | FIJI | (T2) | Stade de France, Saint-Denis |
AUTUMN INTERNATIONALS
SERIES SUMMARY
| P | W | L | F | A | TR | BP | Pts | |
| NEW ZEALAND | 5 | 4 | 1 | 197 | 85 | 26 | 4 | 20 |
| IRELAND | 4 | 4 | 0 | 155 | 47 | 20 | 2 | 18 |
| WALES | 4 | 4 | 0 | 124 | 51 | 14 | 1 | 17 |
| ENGLAND | 4 | 3 | 1 | 99 | 60 | 10 | 3 | 15 |
| SCOTLAND | 4 | 2 | 2 | 98 | 73 | 12 | 2 | 10 |
| SOUTH AFRICA | 4 | 2 | 2 | 77 | 78 | 6 | 1 | 9 |
| JAPAN | 4 | 1 | 3 | 106 | 162 | 15 | 4 | 8 |
| FRANCE | 3 | 1 | 2 | 68 | 63 | 7 | 2 | 6 |
| AUSTRALIA | 4 | 1 | 3 | 70 | 90 | 8 | 2 | 6 |
| ITALY | 4 | 1 | 3 | 45 | 163 | 6 | 1 | 5 |
| ARGENTINA | 3 | 0 | 3 | 39 | 70 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
TR = Tries scored
BP = Bonus points awarded for four tries in a game and/or a defeat by less than eight points
Tier 1 nations and RWC19 hosts Japan featured only
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