Neil Francis: A jolly good show but not for the Irish . . .

It's a jolly, you know, a beano. It's a pity Hawaii or Ibiza don't play rugby because they might have got a slot. Chicago, Rome, Dublin and Paris - what an itinerary. They may have to break a sweat in one of those games, but in a long continuous season for the All Blacks this represents a soft landing to the end of the season. Even England wouldn't have been immune from a tonking with all their injuries.