Who’s hot and who’s not!

Adam Kyriacou

It’s time for our Monday wrap of who has their name in lights and who is making the headlines for all the wrong reasons over the past week.

THEY’RE ON FIRE!

La Rochelle: Is there a more exciting side in the world right now? They were simply majestic at times against Wasps. Modern day rugby, with its organised defences and almost robotic coaching, doesn’t tend to allow unstructured teams to succeed, but Patrice Collazo’s outfit have found a way. It almost goes back to the great France teams of yesteryear by the way they chance their arm, with every man having an innate understanding of where the space is. Whether it is the type of rugby that will succeed, I guess we will find out in April in the knockouts.

Irish provinces: If Munster’s win over Leicester Tigers is anything to go off then the transition from Rassie Erasmus to Johann van Graan will be seamless. It helps having an experienced spine, with Peter O’Mahony, CJ Stander, Conor Murray and Simon Zebo excellent on Saturday, but every facet of their game was impressive against the Midlanders. Ulster and Leinster also impressed in the Champions Cup, beating Quins and Exeter 17-5 and 18-8 respectively on Sunday with streetwise efforts while in the Challenge Cup Connacht ran out 38-31 winners at Brive.

Ospreys: It has been a tough start for Steve Tandy’s side in both the PRO14 and Champions Cup, but their performance against Northampton was far more proficient. While the Saints are frankly shambolic at the moment, the Welsh side’s attacking play was superb. Although their display at Saracens was an improvement, this has set a platform for them to better their league position in the second half of the PRO14.

New Zealand Sevens: We’ll admit that South Africa were our picks for glory on home soil after such an impressive performance in Dubai. But in front of their home fans they were almost stunned by Fiji in the quarter-final before New Zealand dumped them out in the semis. The men in black then went on to win the final 38-14 against Argentina to move two points clear of South Africa in the table with eight stops left.

Benetton: The Italians really don’t deserve to be winless in the Champions Cup. Benetton and fellow countrymen Zebre have justifiably been criticised over the years for their inability to compete at the highest level, but Benetton Rugby have been so unfortunate over the last two matches. They should have defeated Toulon back in October before they overcame the loss of blindside flanker Francesco Minto to almost beat the Scarlets on Saturday. Eventually, the Welshmen came through to win but it was another creditable display from an improving side.

COLD AS ICE!

Chris Ashton: The former England wing has been in outstanding form since crossing the Channel but this is a moment he will want to forget. After receiving an unflattering pass from Josua Tuisova behind the tryline he proceeded to slice his kick straight to Jonathan Joseph, who went in for a simple touchdown. Credit to Ashton for his self-deprecation post-match but, regrettably for him, this is a mistake that will be replayed over and over again. However, fortunately for the full-back, Toulon did go on to beat Bath 24-20 to spare his blushes somewhat.

Teddy Thomas: Talking of comical moments, Thomas almost matched the Toulon back by dropping the ball over the line. He’d done all the hard work, beating three defenders with his pace, power and footwork, before the France international committed the cardinal sin. Unlike Ashton, Thomas’ mistake was to prove costly, with Castres going onto beat Racing 16-13 and putting a significant dent in their qualification hopes.

Glasgow Warriors: Dave Rennie’s side have been unstoppable in the PRO14, but for whatever reason it hasn’t quite happened in Europe. They have lost three successive Champions Cup matches, effectively putting them out of the competition, the latest coming against Montpellier.

Christophe Urios and Fabien Galthie: Castres’ Urios and Toulon’s Galthie were handed four-week touchline bans over an altercation during their recent Top 14 game. Urios slapped Galthie after the ex-scrum-half had been embroiled in an argument with Castres assistant Frederic Charrier. Despite both not being allowed on the sideline for their Champions Cup games, their sides at least won against Racing and Bath.

Mathieu Raynal: We’ve mentioned Benetton already but what might have been against Scarlets had they not had Minto red carded. Despite the replays showing David Bulbring landing on his arm and then shoulder – and with TMO Graham Hughes repeatedly stating it was the shoulder – Raynal said it was the head and gave Minto his marching orders on 25 minutes. Hughes must have been in disbelief, as were Benetton’s fans.