Hot: Sarries... not so much: Edinburgh
It is time for our weekly wrap up of who has their name in lights at the moment...and who is making the headlines for the wrong reasons.
They're smoooooookin'!
Ulster: The 2011/2012 Heineken Cup runners-up got this season's campaign off to a fine start with a bonus-point win over Castres in front of their fanatical home crowd at Ravenhill.
Harlequins: England's champions showed they will be a force to be reckoned with a clinincal display in beating Biarritz in their Heineken Cup opener last weekend. Although it was a good all-round display, kudos to Ben Botica who kicked 18 points after coming on as a first-half replacement for Nick Evans.
Gaël Fickou: Toulouse's 18-year-old midfield sensation scored a spectacular solo try in his team's Heineken Cup win over Leicester and was rewarded for his fine early season form with a call-up to France's squad for their upcoming November internationals.
Saracens: The 2011 Premiership champions kicked off their Heineken Cup campaign in style by thrashing last season's semi-finalists Edinburgh at Murrayfield. What made Sarries' win extra special is that they managed to prevent their hosts from scoring any points.
Morne Steyn: After being dropped for the latter part of the Springboks' Rugby Championship campaign Steyn had plenty to prove to his detractors. He delivered a faultless goal-kicking display, notching 23 points, in the Blue Bulls' victory over the Golden Lions which also helped the Pretoria outfit secure their place in the Currie Cup semi-finals.
Highlanders: It's been a good week for the supporters of the Dunedin-based franchise with the news that World Cup winners Brad Thorn and Ma'a Nonu are joining them in 2013.
Bbbrrrr... Someone turn up the heater!
Glasgow: Gregor Townsend's troops surprised everyone by racing to a 15-0 lead against Northampton. But to then concede 24 unanswered points and ultimately lose the match would've been a bitter pill to swallow.
Morgan Stoddart: The Scarlets wing was sent off after 37 minutes of the 49-16 defeat at the Stade Marcel Michelin following a second yellow card from referee Peter Fitzgibbon which effectively ended the Welsh side's hopes of an upset.
Sisa Koyamaibole: The Fiji international bit off more than he could chew after he was slapped with a 12-week ban after been cited for biting London Irish flanker Declan Danaher during Saturday's Amlin Challenge Cup game between the Exiles and Bordeaux-Begles.
Edinburgh: The men from the Scottish capital were completely outclassed and were booed off the Murrayfield pitch after suffering their biggest home Heineken Cup defeat. The hosts weren't able to get on the board even with a one-man advantage, while their sorry offensive effort saw them muster just one kick at goal - which fly-half Greig Laidlaw squandered.
Hawke's Bay: After getting promoted to the Premiership. Hawke's Bay will drop back to the ITM Cup championship next season after finishing bottom of the Premiership with just three wins from 10 matches.
Free State Cheetahs: Having won only three of their 10 Currie Cup encounters, the Free State Cheetahs finished up last on the standings. Now relegation beckons if the Bloemfontein-based side cannot produce the goods in their promotion/relegation play-off against the EP Kings.
Comments
cuw3100 says...
" ...Sadly, I have just read that his ambition is to be an All-Black, rather than to wear the Red Rose....."
How old is Botika ? Quite a few young fly halves and full backs in ITM.
Carter Cruden and Barret; Dagg, Ben Smith in the current 30 (+ Jane as full back cover).
Am sure England would love to have Kiwi talent; if only Nick Evans could play for them :)
Posted 09:49 21st October 2012
APV1 says...
@ Rosbif - it's certainly got me scratching my head for answers...
Posted 13:55 19th October 2012
Rosbif says...
ooolala APV... it's getting hard to keep up mon ami! I may have inadvertently started this..... too many nits, not enough time for picking.....
By the way, what will be hot, is if Quins, Saints, Ulster, Toulon or Clermont are able to get 5-0 results this weekend away from home, thereby bagging 10 points after two games.
Can Quins go back to the scene of last years crime?
Can Ulster cross the water and defeat the old enemy?
Can Saints beat a French side's real 1st XV on hostile ground?
Will the Chiefs be too tired after last week's heroics and be overrun by Sivivatu & Co?
Can Jenkins pull a fast one on his old mates or even tweek Warburton's dodgy finger in a ruck?
We will see!!
Posted 12:51 19th October 2012
APV1 says...
@ froggy73 - not to nit-pick your nit-picking of Stag91's nit-picking of Rosbif's nit-picking of the article, but I think the point made was that a team were beaten by the winning team. They picked-up with more points against a team with fewer. To be perfectly honest, the squads picked reflected their ability to pick-up points. And to pick you up on another point, the players picked scored the points. Sorry to be picky, but I feel I had a point to make.
Posted 10:27 19th October 2012
nhb99 says...
Ben Botica qualifies for England because he lived the first eight (I think years of his life here, while Frano was playing RL for Wigan (I think, again).
Sadly, I have just read that his ambition is to be an All-Black, rather than to wear the Red Rose.
Posted 09:07 19th October 2012
ruckingkiwi says...
How is Ben Botica qualified for England, through ancestry? It will be interesting to see how his career progresses, he couldn't crack Super rugby but good luck to him.
Posted 23:34 18th October 2012
Lucasrg says...
lol....wasn't Stoddart on the "Team of The Week" this week! oops!
Posted 19:21 18th October 2012
Stag91 says...
Froggy point taken but to me personally to be undefeated in 9 games (including pre-season as Rosbif points out) has the mark of a squad who are super-hot, failing that the hottest in Europe at least. Fingers crossed I'm not out to jinx this start!
Posted 15:51 18th October 2012
froggy73 says...
Stag91, not to nit-pick your nit-picking, but Pro12 clubs have played only 5+1 games so you cannot compare to French club who played 8+1 or even English 6+1. On top of this Ulster HEC game was at home against Castres (a team that cannot get a point away). Not sure that makes them super hot?
Posted 14:58 18th October 2012
melkdave says...
Well overall its a descent list of the hots and colds,personnally i would have had M.Gitaue in the hot instead of G.Fickou.Apart from picking the ball up from a spill ,and scoring unopposed he didnt do much else ,while Gitaue was just everywhere ,andcreated alotin the same bad conditions .I also have to say Toulon should be considerd hot aswell,favourites in my book to lift the HEC this year,just class everywhere you look.,and demolished Montpellier,een if they did rest players .
Posted 14:42 18th October 2012
Rosbif says...
agreed re ulster, including pre-season draw vs tigers, close away win at ospreys and even closer home win vs munster. they're on a roll for sure. that's not nit-picking! but it's a weekly round-up, no? i'm just suggesting consistency of analysis based on one week's performance :-)
Posted 14:30 18th October 2012
Stag91 says...
Rosbif, not to nit-pick your nit-picking. But in Ulster's case they are the only unbeaten team in Europe does that justify super-hot?
Posted 13:46 18th October 2012
makemehappy says...
Morgan Stoddart - poor bloke should never have had the first yellow, possibly not the second, and got stamped on by two idiots! Bad luck and bad refereeing I'd say!
Posted 13:30 18th October 2012
rexbanner says...
kiwishamoo - yes. not bad at all.
He's England qualified already
Posted 13:28 18th October 2012
Rosbif says...
Sorry Ed, don't mean to nit-pick, but Ulster, Quins and Toulon all got 5-0 wins at home against French sides that were resting players. (not sure that makes them super hot? but if it does, for the sake of consistency, you should mention Toulon).
Saracens, on the other hand, get a 5-0 away from home against a side fielding all its best players. Now that really is hot!
Posted 13:14 18th October 2012
kiwishamoo says...
Ben Botica - Frano's boy?
Posted 12:35 18th October 2012