Hot: Ross Ford - Not: Aironi
It's time for Planet Rugby's weekly wrap up of who is setting the benchmarks at the moment... and who should be dropped to the bench!
They're on fire!
Ross Ford: Captaining your national side is the highest individual honour to which any player can aspire. Our congratulations to Scotland's 112th Test skipper.
Munster: Six wins from six games. Number one seeds for the Heineken Cup quarter-finals. Five tries and 51 points on the road to last year's finalists....'nough said.
The Heineken Cup quarter-finalists: Some have been luckier than others. Top of the lucky list must be Toulouse: Expect an Airbus full of fruit baskets to arrive in Connacht shortly. Leading the not-so-lucky candidates are Edinburgh, whose reward for winning Pool Two is a quarter-final against a certain French team looking for their fifth title after a massive wake-up call. Doh!
The Pro12: With five of the eight HEC quarter-finalists coming from one league, it's hard to suggest that the Pro12 isn't setting the standard in the northern hemisphere. Food for thought indeed.
Simon Zebo, Takudzwa Ngwenya and Sitiveni Sivivatu: There were plenty of 'hot' wingers on show over the weekend with the flyers from Munster and Biarritz bagging hat-tricks along with places in our Team of the Week. But while they we're finishing off flowing moves, Clermont's All Black import was at the origin of attack after attack. It took Sivi a few games to find his feet, but he's firing on all cylinders now and must be considered one of the most dangerous wingers in Europe at the moment.
Stade Français: As the Amlin Challenge Cup top seeds after finishing the group stages with a points difference of +155, the Parisians are the bookies' second favourites (behind Toulon) to go all the way.
Treviso: Three cheers for Italy's top side after they came within a hairsbreadth of toppling the champions of England. Sarries can consider themselves somewhat lucky after the Benetton Boys had a try turned down in the dying minutes by the TMO with a controversial call.
Heyneke Meyer: As the Springbok coach rumour mill continues to turn, it's been reported that South Africa's administrators have finally decided to appoint the Bulls' main man as Peter de Villiers' successor. Meyer, who narrowly missed out on the position in 2008 following the SARU's decision to place a bigger emphasis on transformation than results, has been tipped to be unveiled as the new national coach on Friday. Given Meyer's impressive coaching record at Currie Cup and Super Rugby level, his rare ability to bring out the best in his players in high-pressure matches and his professional communication skills, it's no surprise the top brass at SARU are impressed.
Ewen McKenzie: The Wallaby Head Coach position isn't up for grabs - yet - but McKenzie was given a mighty big compliment by ARU chief executive John O'Neill, after revealing the Reds mentor would be a "fantastic candidate" to be the next Australia boss. The Super Rugby-winning coach, who has extended his Reds contract until 2014, is widely regarded as one of the leading candidates to replace Robbie Deans if and when the Kiwi leaves his post. No pressure then Robbie!
Cecil Afrika: The IRB Sevens Player of the Year was unveiled as the new IRB Keep Rugby Clean Ambassador for Sevens Rugby. He follows Samoa's Uale Mai and Kenya's Humphrey Kayange in becoming Sevens rugby's third anti-doping ambassador.
Someone turn on the heater...!
The European semi-final draws: Why is that the ERC insist on the semi-final venues for the Heineken and Challenge Cups being decided by pulling a little plastic ball out of a drum? Surely it makes more sense for the higher ranked teams to get home (country) advantage? As it stands, Leinster - ranked second after the pool stages - will have to travel to England or France if they make the semi-finals....eh?
Bryce Lawrence (in South Africa at least): The controversial Kiwi referee, who became public enemy number one in South Africa after being blamed by more than a few for ending the Springboks' reign as World Champions, will not travel to the Republic to officiate Super Rugby matches. It's understood that SANZAR are fearful that fans might take matters into their own hands if he controls any games in the Rainbow Nation.
Toulon's retirement village: So Andrew Sheridan is the latest 30-something to head to Toulon. The soon-to-be former Shark is 32, the same age as Bakkies Botha, Jonny Wilkinson, Carl Hayman and Dean Schofield. Simon Shaw is 38 while Sebastien Bruno is 37, just like Kris Chesney. Bernard Laporte might have to make provision for afternoon naps in his training schedule. Not exactly building for the future, is it?
Harlequins: Quins started the season with and bang and a fizz, but are struggling to produce much more than a muffled fart these days. A 21-point hiding at the hands of Saints followed by that defeat in western Ireland has put a damper on spirits at the Stoop to say the least. At least they have a chance to defend their Amlin Challenge Cup title, starting with tricky trip to Toulon.
Aironi: In six rounds of Heineken Cup competition, Italy's not-so-new franchise were the only team who failed to pick up a win. In fact, they didn't even get a point in Pool Four. Not a single one. Some fans are now questioning whether they deserve an automatic place in Europe's top competition. It's a tough call because they have the playing personnel to make an impact and Treviso have shown that with a bit of time Italian teams can be competitive. But just how much time do they need?
Welsh private parts: This one has nothing to do with form. While former Wales U20 player Steven Shingler is training in relative 'warmth' with Scotland, his brother and the rest of the Welsh Six Nations squad are in Poland climbing into frozen chambers for more cryotherapy sessions. We believe the expression goes: cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey. i.e. Not hot, coooooooooooold!
Comments
leinster_goy says...
Is "backingLeinster" the same person as "BackingLeinster"? doubtful. i've also seen "pogmahon" and "pog_mahone", "stag" and "Stag"...
PR, you really should be looking out for people registering with the sole purpose of impersonating real posters (i've been a victim of it myself in fact), all they do is change one letter to upper/lower case, should be relatively easy to spot
Posted 08:06 25th January 2012
gingergenius says...
treviso's disallowed try came from quite blatant obstruction with more than 20 minutes left. hardly a controversial tmo decision at the death. still, they've made themselves a tough team to beat at home, hopefully the 'bonus' of having an italian team in your group will soon be a thing of the past.
Edinburgh deserve the most credit, winning their group with very few stars and a small budget.
Posted 23:31 24th January 2012
tombomb says...
backingLeinster's comment is a very good point connaught = poorest(money) team in hcup whit alot of injuries beat's a team that are currently top of the AP and get's there first win in the hcup that's some achievement for them. compare that to treviso which nearly beat sarracens which are 2 in the AP so how could treviso be hot and connaught aren't i say both treviso and connaught should be considered HOT. also bullitt=child.Thebosston look at munster they are out of form and they've gone six from six in the hcup and have a good few injuries to their starting team. this 'out of a out-of-form team' argument is total BS there still the same team they were not good enough on the day and that's all that count's the hcup is a different kettle of fish than the amlin and aviva just because there good there mean's nothing when it come's to the hcup
Posted 23:14 24th January 2012
carpelone says...
Connacht were as awful as Aironi. They need much more than a wind in the storm to be hot.
Posted 21:19 24th January 2012
wexman says...
@ bullit + @ Thebosston
I'm an Irish supporter and I couldn't agree with you more! Although Irish rugby is doing very well at the moment there is still plenty of teams in Europe which have to be recognized also.
Get over it "backingLeinster" its only an opinion column
Posted 20:29 24th January 2012
froggy73 says...
@BackingLeinster: your poster is typical of most of the Irish posters here. I can only agree with Thebosston and Bullitt.
Posted 20:15 24th January 2012
mcdb06 says...
@Thebosston Agree with you there. I'm Irish and believe in credit being given where it is due but there is a lot of whining on these forums from Irish fans when a province doesnt get mentioned. Apparently it's not good enough having the in-form teams of the competition unless its constantly forced down everyone else's throats
Posted 19:38 24th January 2012
liam2me says...
Not so Hot:
Northampton, nuff said
Posted 19:24 24th January 2012
brownie says...
great point about semi final draws they are a joke the 2highest ranked teams should be at home is the semis. @backingleinster how can you put a team that has won 1game since september into the hot section the only reason the won was cause of the conditions. treviso have been a revelation this season in the HC and PRO12
Posted 19:20 24th January 2012
kybone says...
I take it that PR have decided that Quins have no chance of winning the Prem then, because they lost a game away to Saints! On Toulon, they may be near the top of the league right now but what about next year, and the year after that. They're going to have to sign another squad of players in about 2 or 3 years. Have they even got a youth academy? I heard something interesting the other day which suggested that all of the top irish players hardly play any pro12 games and are basically wrapped in cotton wool ready to play in the Hcup and for Ireland. Im not sure if this is true, but if it is then theres no wonder the Irish teams always seem to do well! And finally, as an Englishman, i have to agree that Connacht should have been in the hot list because it was a big result for them and the same with Treviso......almost anyway.
Posted 18:51 24th January 2012
NHsaints says...
@fozza well said, regardless of the age at the club the players there are still absolute class and if they start to click (especially in the forwards and centres) then we'll be looking at the new european super power...as for comments on Ireland...true their provincial game is VERY strong at the minute but let's compare...they have what? 4 teams in which to split their national players of which 1 doesn't really have any bearing (connacht) and of the remaining 3 only two have large numbers of ireland internationals...effectively they have 2 teams then in which their international qualities reside which would suggest they have the highest player pool to pro club ratio in europe, no surprise they're top in europe right?...now compare that to say...the premiership or top 14? Where all 12/14 clubs have international players...slight dillution issue there do you not think? Not to mention (before someone argues that the irish national side should therefore be better or else the clubs could not be so good) that they have to have certain positions (in which they lack international depth) covered? Take ulster where they import the majority of their top class players where they are lacking in depth...and that is why ireland often lack on the international but not provincial level.
Posted 18:50 24th January 2012
Lucasrg says...
Thank you PR, the Toulon bit crack me up.
@backingLeinster
You are right, Connacht should get a mention with that shocker over the Quins. I was shocked at least
Posted 18:47 24th January 2012
bullitt says...
Hot:
Ireland
The Irish
The Irish people
Irish Rugby Fans
Everything Ireland
Not so hot:
Not being Irish
The English
Is that better for you, backingLeinster?
Posted 17:51 24th January 2012
fozza says...
Seems quite a pointless cheap shot at Toulon and their players... that retirement village is running 3rd in the Top 14. It seems they're still managing to do it week in week out... And in the same write up you mention they're top seeds for the Amlin... Come on PR, you can do better than that...
Posted 17:37 24th January 2012
backingLeinster says...
So Treviso are hot because they came close to beating an English side in the Heineken cup and Connacht aren't mentioned after beating the team who were being touted as Aviva Championship and Heineken cup top contenders only a month ago. Strange...
Posted 17:08 24th January 2012