Who’s hot…and who’s not!

Editor

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.

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!

Ireland: Not many people were willing to back the injured-struck home side in Dublin against an in-form Springbok team but Joe Schmidt’s men reminded us all why they are the Six Nations champions. The Irish defence was tireless, committed and well organised. The tactics were spot on and they executed clinically when chances were offered. Debutant Jared Payne and 21-year-old Robbie Henshaw forged a solid midfield partnership, proving the doubters wrong as they kept the experienced Boks at bay.

Scotland: Having toppled the Wallabies last time out, los Pumas arrived at Murrayfield carrying plenty of momentum but they were met by a Scotland side showing new-found confidence and ambition. Vern Cotter’s first home game in charge was rousing success as his team scored five tries.

French debutants: At last some good news for les Bleus! Teddy Thomas scored a hat-trick of tries against Fiji, two of which were set up by Scott Spedding while Alexandre Dumoulin was a powerful runner in midfield. Can they back it up against stiffer opposition? The Wallabies should provide a sterner Test on Saturday.

USA, Canada, Italy and Tonga: It was a great weekend for these tier two countries who all registered victories over Romania, Namibia, Samoa and Georgia respectively. The USA, Canada and Tonga deserve credit for kickstarting their northern hemisphere tours with positive results and Italy showed great character to come from behind to beat Samoa.

Toulouse: After a poor start to the season – In which they lost their first five Top 14 matches – Toulouse are well and truly back after their 21-20 victory over Bordeaux-B