Who's hot...and who's not!

Hot: France's scrum

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.

You can't touch this!

Weekend winners: Victories were picked up by Samoa, USA, Japan, Italy, England, Argentina, South Africa, France and last but not least, New Zealand. Argentina used the experience garnered from their inaugural Rugby Championship campaign to brush aside Six Nations champions Wales 26-12 in Cardiff, but it's the French who will be wearing the widest smiles after recording their biggest win over the Wallabies in 36 years (33-6). England romped past Fiji to show they could also trouble the southern hemisphere powers this month; South Africa overcame a sluggish first-half display against Ireland to emerge 16-12 winners in Dublin and Scotland suffered a 51-22 loss at the hands of New Zealand with the hosts competitive for the bulk of an enthralling tussle at Murrayfield to wrap up the weekend's proceedings.

Frederic Michalak: Playing his first home game in donkey's years, the Frenchman contributed 15 points with a perfect kicking record of six from six, including a snap drop-goal and set up a try for Wesley Fofana. It was no surprise he left the Stade de France pitch to a standing ovation.

Robert Lilomaiava: Was the toast of Samoan rugby after the winger lit up Colwyn Bay with four tries on debut to help his team smash Canada 42-12 - sending a warning to their next opponents Wales in the process.

France front-row: The Wallabies' fragility at the set-piece has been well documented in the past and the French ruthlessly set about proving it remained a significant soft spot as they mauled Australia's scrum. It was no surprise the visitors' backline saw precious little ball as their hosts thumped away up front. Australia's problems will no doubt come as welcome news to the rest of their rivals on their European tour with England especially likely to test them in that area at Twickenham this weekend.

Mont-de-Marsan: The struggling Top 14 side finally tasted success in their eleventh attempt after beating Racing Metro in Paris - without a doubt the upset of the season thus far.

Leicester and Gloucester: The Tigers handed the Maori All Blacks their first defeat in five years by prevailing 32-24 at Welford Road. The tourists hadn't lost since the 2007 Churchill Cup final to England Saxons. Since then they'd beaten the likes of England and Ireland, but finally met their match with Leicester fly-half George Ford finishing with 22 points off his boot. Gloucester, meanwhile, came from 18-0 down after 33 minutes to beat Fiji 31-29 at Kingsholm.

Bbbrrrr... Someone turn up the heater!

Wales: The reigning Six Nations champions' hopes of securing a top-four seeding in the 2015 World Cup nosedived after losing to Argentina at the Millennium Stadium. It was Wales' fourth defeat on the bounce, their first at home since last December and a loss that leaves them with little chance of securing a top-four ranking on which top seeds will be based prior to the World Cup draw early next month. They have Samoa, New Zealand and Australia still to come over the next three weeks, with Wales having not beaten the All Blacks since 1953 whilst they've suffered seven successive defeats to the Wallabies.

Fiji: The islanders' RWC win against Wales and near upset over South Africa in the quarter-finals five years ago now seems like a distant memory. They were one of the disappointments in the 2011 World Cup and the direction they are travelling continues to be downhill following defeats to England and Gloucester.

Ban inconsistencies: Adam Thomson was on Wednesday given a one-week suspension for stomping on the head of Alasdair Strockosh while Wallaby lock Rob Simmons was handed an eight-week ban following his tip tackle on France's Yannick Nyanga. Needless to say, the fallout continues around the world.

Match officials at Stade de France: Sticking with Simmons - during the course of that match in Paris, referee Nigel Owens was heard apologising to the France team for the officials' failure to issue a red card for the challenge on Nyanga as they could not identify the tackler. We're baffled that between the three of them, nobody could pick out Simmons's number. Rumour has it Philippe Saint-André is sending them spectacles for X-mas.

Jamie Heaslip: Ireland's number eight and stand-in skipper was left to rue the yellow card shown to him that underpinned his side's 16-12 defeat in Dublin. The Irish led 12-3 when Heaslip was binned in the 43rd minute for collapsing a driving maul as the Springboks attacked their line. In his absence South Africa scored 10 points to establish a lead they retained throughout a dominant second-half.

By Dave Morris