Where is the northern hemisphere's answer to Quade Cooper, Israel Folau or Julian Savea? Much is made of the fact that the World Cup will be played in European conditions. It is hokum. There is no advantage to be had whatsoever. There was certainly none in evidence in recent weeks with the southern hemisphere sides running as free and hard as they do on their supposedly firmer pitches. Given that the World Cup takes place two months earlier, there is no substance in drumming up the notion that European-based sides will benefit. England might for crowd support, Wales partially, but that is it. Northern interpretations in play at the breakdown? Wallaby Michael Hooper did not seem to be too fazed by that, nor Springbok Francois Louw with his Bath background. With the exception of George North and France's Wesley Fofana, there is not a single European player who sets the pulses racing in the manner that the southern superpowers do. The try count was 33-13 in favour of the south, an imbalance that needs correcting. True, Ireland and England did give the all-conquering All Blacks a rattle but they have to do more than that if a World Cup is to be won. Tries are not only scored through individual brilliance, as we saw tellingly when New Zealand worked their way through the phases to put Ryan Crotty over in the corner at the Aviva Stadium, but the worth of having a Cooper in your ranks was plain to see at the Millennium Stadium. Of course it is impossible to pluck such talent out of thin air. Those who argue that Danny Cipriani needs to be fast-tracked back into the senior squad need to watch him play more often. He has done well for Sale but he needs a season of such output to force his way back into the reckoning. Stuart Lancaster is aware that he needs to bring some devil, as well as pace, into his team. It would be a great help, of course, if he was not being swamped by medical bulletins at every turn. England's injury toll is calamitous. Two of those who might be capable of sprinkling gold-dust over the back line, wings Marland Yarde and Christian Wade, are now crocked. Monday's diagnosis on Wade, which rules him out for six months and probably of the New Zealand tour, is devastating. That trip to New Zealand is the perfect place to test these fledgling talents and with that World Cup clock ticking, any absences are deeply troubling. With two outside centres, Manu Tuilagi and Joel Tomkins, in the rehab bay, Lancaster will have every digit crossed that Gloucester's Henry Trinder stays in one piece over the next two months. Two of his Gloucester team-mates, fly-half Freddie Burns and utility back Jonny May, will also be in focus although it was old-stager Toby Flood who trumped them all at Kingsholm last Friday with his passing out of the tackle. It has been an invigorating and illuminating five weeks. We are at the halfway point between World Cups. The southern giants will sleep easy in their summer. Time to let TMO change channel There are too many decisions referred to the television match official, almost as a reflex action. It does little to help the flow of play and sometimes clouds rather than clarifies. Joe Tomane's try for Australia against Wales was a case in point. Referee Wayne Barnes eventually stuck by his view that the hands of the passer were pointing backwards and therefore it did not matter where the ball ended up, and awarded the try. The ref needs to have faith in his own judgment. Halfpenny is the full shilling Only at the Millennium Stadium is it possible to hear the up-close noise of ball on boot as Leigh Halfpenny strikes for goal. It is the sweetest noise, a gentle, flawless connection and you don't even need to look at the posts to know that the kick is true. He is some act.