Whichever way you look at it, the way that the Northern Hemisphere has been locked out of the Rugby World Cup last-four says a lot, with the Southern half of the globe putting down a marker when it comes to dominance.
It has led to serious question marks about how rugby is played among the Six Nations teams, and tonight on Off The Ball former Ireland back-row Alan Quinlan and rugby journalist Tom English joined us to discuss the situation and whether there is a need for change.
For Quinlan, it's not a lack of talent that is the issue in the Irish case.
"I think it's a mental thing more than anything. I think we do have the players, we do have the skillset but we just approach the game differently. We kick a lot," he said, explaining that a tweak of approach is the way to go looking to the future rather a drastic overhaul.
"In New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and now in Argentina, they just look comfortable playing a wide-wide game. They take risks with the ball."
He also added that in the Northern Hemisphere "we wait for the scrum-half to get to the breakdown" in contrast to an example he referenced in New Zealand.
"There's a mentality in the Southern Hemisphere that everybody can play ball," he said, pointing out how that that approach is promoted in those nations.
But Quinlan also feels that drastic change is not required, while English backed that point. English also pointed out the weaknesses that Southern Hemisphere sides like South Africa and Australia have displayed at times in the World Cup, adding that he believes the Wallabies have been "over-hyped" to a degree.
Instead English points towards the rise of Argentina and the strength of New Zealand as the most relevant cases in the growing debate.
English also told us how the Scottish rugby public reacted to the controversial manner in which they were knocked out of the World Cup.
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