Planet Rugby

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

19th December 2012 12:36

Morgan Parra and Tannoy

Hot - Morgan Parra Not hot - Sarries PA System

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 on fire!

Heineken Cup winners: To all the teams that picked up victories during Round Four, particularly Northampton, Clermont, the Ospreys, Saracens and Toulon. Saints bounced back from a tough night at Ravenhill with a bang while Clermont enhanced their title credentials before the Ospreys, Sarries and Toulon picked up wins over Toulouse, Munster and Sale respectively. It was once again a glowing endorsement of the back-to-back fixture format that adds extra spice to the fixtures.

Shane Monahan: Four tries for Gloucester against London Irish in the Amlin Challenge Cup, Monahan had one heck of a game on Saturday. That haul takes his tally this term to eleven after arriving from Rotherham. When at the lower league club he once revealed that his favourite film was Predator - he certainly showed those instincts over the weekend in what was his second four-try effort after achieving the same feat for the 'A' team against Worcester.

Montpellier: The Top 14 side gained an incredible 605 metres in their Heineken Cup win over Cardiff, of which 273metres were made after just 21 minutes! Leading the charge after 80 minutes were Timoci Nagusa and John Beattie who made 130 and 111 metres respectively during the match.

Morgan Parra: The Clermont scrum-half's contribution of 23 points in the win over Leinster has taken him to the top of the Heineken Cup points-scoring charts. Parra's haul of 64 points from four matches means that he averages 16 points per game.


Get these guys a cup of warm soup!

PA system at Saracens: Much to the annoyance of opposing and also many of their own supporters, the powers that be thought it was a good idea to play 'Stand up for the Saracens' at almost every occasion against Munster on Sunday. Needless to say it did not go down well with those at the ground - which led to one reader mailing us sighting the event - with many Sarries fans venting their disappointment on their official website, using words such as "embarrassing" and "cringe-worthy".

Injuries: There was a series of injuries surfacing from Round Four of the Heineken Cup as Tommy Bowe, Lee Byrne, Richardt Strauss, Dan Tuohy and Bakkies Botha found themselves on the treatment table. That quintet join a growing number of players on the sideline - we wish them all full recoveries over the festive period.

Sale: Just when it looked like they were about to turn the corner, after making Toulon work hard for a win two weeks ago, the Sharks were brought crashing down to earth with a 62-0 loss in the return match against Bernard Laporte's side. Sale boss John Mitchell hit the nail on the head when he said his side "got what it deserved".

Ibrahim Diarra: The Castres flanker received an eight-week ban for stamping on Glasgow Warriors prop Moray Low in their Heineken Cup tie.

Comments

kybone says...

I can't believ that the Pro12 isn't in the Not list! Only 1 out of the 11 Pro12 teams in the HC won last weekend, while all 6 HC pools are propped up by a Pro12 team and only 1 is topped by a Pro12 team.

Posted 12:14 22nd December 2012

GCP_jones says...

For the Who's Hot... part for next week.

Just read Alex Cuthbert has committed to Cardiff for the next 3 seasons, Fair play to the guy, Good for Cardiff, Good for Wales, The Pro12 and Heineken.

Posted 10:34 20th December 2012

GCP_jones says...

@APV1..

Classic Bro... You have discovered your true vocation.

Not Hot - Toulon.. Why ..Well there... Toulon

Posted 10:29 20th December 2012

lawynd says...

A couple of Munster-supporting friends at Vicarage Road suggested it was to drown out the singing of the travelling support, who quite possibly outnumbered the home fans by about 3:1. If that's the case then it's crass gamesmanship and they should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves. Mind you, it is Saracens...

Posted 10:07 20th December 2012

Danatthecorner says...

"which led to one reader mailing us sighting the event"

Did he? You sure he didn't "cite" the event? Surprising give that "citing" is a word that is part of rugby's day to day lexicon

Posted 10:00 20th December 2012

BokAvenger says...

Spot on Ferdie. That book makes for a perfect beer mat. Got a cold one resting on it right now

Posted 09:20 20th December 2012

ferdie says...

Hot - include all the UK fans who've bought over 20,000 copies of Richie McCaw's book, helping push it to the best selling rugby bio ever at 120,000+, ahead of Martin Johnston's on 70,000.

Understand trinats bought two of the the three copies old in Australia (georgesmith got the other one, oddly it was signed inside by Nathan Sharpe), and bokavenger has the only one in SA.

Posted 23:37 19th December 2012

Rosbif says...

@APV1, Parra- Parra- Paradise. Ooooo etc.... I can hear it right now. What a splendid idea. Thanks for improving my day!!

Posted 22:39 19th December 2012

Rosbif says...

GCP Have to agree with you re Parra, Never met him. Never met anyone who met him. But there's something about him I'm not sure about....

Then again, as an ex second rower, I never used to like those annoying flashy skilful 11 stone weaklings hehehe - would always much prefer to get stuck into a Mike Philips type, you know, the ones that think they're an extra forward because their U15s coach told them so...

Not hot - the aviva pitch as BackingLeinster says

Posted 19:15 19th December 2012

DrDeath says...

@Jmehrtens

You must be mistaken surely!! We all know the Rabo teams have a huge advantage over the French & English clubs by being in a safe little league!!

Or was it about the money after all???

Posted 17:40 19th December 2012

BackingLeinster says...

I think the picth at Lansdowne needs to be added to the NOT list. Since they relayed it during the summer it has done nothing but cut up under the scrums. Ruining games it is.

Posted 16:54 19th December 2012

Jmehrtens says...

In the who's not: Rabo Pro 12 teams (with Ulster the only exception)

Only two clubs manage to rank above the French or English in their pools

What a difference with last year.

Posted 16:30 19th December 2012

DrDeath says...

Agree 100% about Sarries' PA. Too loud, embarassing and ruins the natural atmosphere of a rugby match!

Posted 15:36 19th December 2012

APV1 says...

That sarries song is a big bag of pants. But the results speak for themselves. Perhaps The Fez Heads won in spite of it...

On the subject of songs, perhaps Clermont could license Cold Play's "Paradise" and play it everytime Parra steps up.

"Parra- Parra- Paradise. Oooo-ooow-aaa-wooow-wooooah-woh" (or whatever it is!) and so on.

PR - you seem to have fogotten Owen Farrel from the "Not" list. After the slating you gave him in Loose Pass, it appeared that you felt he really should have been taken out the back and shot.

Posted 14:33 19th December 2012

GCP_jones says...

Re:Shane Monahan

Having a great season with Gloucester its fantastic to see a guy believing in his abilities after been shown the door at Leinster and Connacht. In fact Leinster could do with his bulk and pace on the wings at the moment.

Re: Morgan Parra, Don't like the guy, but you've got to admire the man, excellent player.

Posted 13:32 19th December 2012

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