Who’s hot and who’s not: Cian Healy’s special feat, brilliant Bristol Bears and Manie Libbok’s struggles
Ireland front-row Cian Healy and Stormers fly-half Manie Libbok.
It’s time for our Monday wrap of who has their name in lights and who is making the headlines for all the wrong reasons after the weekend.
THEY’RE ON FIRE!
Cian Healy’s record: The prop beat Brian O’Driscoll’s cap record when he came onto the field in Ireland’s 22-19 victory over the Wallabies. It was the main bright spot in an otherwise frustrating performance from Andy Farrell’s men. The home side struggled to find their rhythm but they managed to overturn a 13-5 deficit when the bench, including Healy, produced the required impact. Congratulations to the loosehead, who is a great of Irish rugby.
Fraser McReight and Rob Valetini: While Ireland emerged on the right side of the scoreline, the Wallabies will arguably take more the game, particularly with the performances of their flankers. McReight probably produced his best display in a gold jersey while Valetini was also magnificent. With Harry Wilson adding a tremendous skill set from number eight, they have a nicely balanced back-row which could rival the best in 2025.
Brilliant Bristol: Pat Lam’s men are an absolute joy to watch at the moment as they went to the Twickenham Stoop and ruined Joe Marler’s farewell. The West Country outfit never stopped running and ended up securing a dominant 48-24 victory over Harlequins. Gabriel Ibitoye was once again magnificent, earning the man of the match award, but the whole team contributed to the impressive win. It will be interesting to see if they can repeat that type of rugby against Leinster next weekend.
Newcastle end 15-year streak: Steve Diamond really is the person to go to when in a hole; he knows how to make the most of limited resources. Despite the Falcons not having anywhere near the financial power of the other teams in the Premiership, Diamond has somehow made them competitive. Against Exeter Chiefs prior to the international break, they ended a 25-match domestic losing streak before they then defeated Saracens on Friday. Newcastle had remarkably not overcome Sarries in 15 years but that changed on Friday when they defeated the Londoners 17-12 at Kingston Park.
Spain men’s sevens: They surprised all and sundry during the opening leg of the World Rugby SVNS Series 2024/25 in Dubai at the weekend when they qualified for their first final. Although they eventually suffered a 17-5 defeat to Fiji in the showpiece game, Spain were the crowd favourites as they claimed shock victories over more established teams like New Zealand (twice), the United States and Great Britain. Los Leones will hope to continue with their fine form at the Cape Town Sevens this weekend.
Vannes stun La Rochelle: And while we’re on the topic of surprises, there was a massive one in France where bottom-placed Vannes registered a shock 23-14 away Top 14 triumph against La Rochelle. Both sides crossed for two tries apiece but La Rochelle’s discipline let them down as they conceded several penalties and when it was in goal-kicking range Vannes fly-half Maxime Lafage made them pay. Lafage eventually finished with a 13-point haul courtesy of three penalties and two conversions.
COLD AS ICE!
Manie Libbok’s struggles: It has not been the best start to the campaign for the fly-half. Although he performed well for the Springboks in the Autumn Nations Series, his Stormers form – in a struggling team – has not been stellar. On Saturday, he had a horror game as they went down to fellow South Africans, the Sharks. Ironically, the playmaker seemed to have gone from villain to hero when he touched down in the last minute for what would have been the match-winning try, but he went back to villain when replays showed he had knocked on in the build up, thus ruling it out. It rather summed up Libbok’s day.
Saracens shocked: There is something not quite right with the Londoners at the moment. Although they are still in the top-four, there is a fallibility to Mark McCall’s men and that was shown in defeat to Newcastle. It was their second successive loss in the Premiership and suggests that they are not quite at the level at the top teams in England, which is unusual for a side that have dominated over the years.
Galling end to Marler’s career: Most hoped that the loosehead would be able to go out on a high, but evidently Bristol had not read the script. The Bears dominated and managed to secure a comfortable win, which meant Marler ended on a frustrating defeat. It obviously did not detract from his magnificent career and the prop finished in his own inimitable way with a hilarious interview after the match and a funny quip to Luke Pearce during the encounter, but it was tinged with disappointment.
🟨 Yellow card for taking his shirt off! 🫣
👕 @JoeMarler asking the important questions 🤣#HARvBRI | #GallagherPrem pic.twitter.com/yAfWbDkaYL
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) November 29, 2024
Mpilo Gumede: The Bulls back-row had a moment of madness during his team’s United Rugby Championship victory over Connacht in Galway on Saturday when he was red carded for making contact with the eye area of Connacht replacement back David Hawkshaw. While Bulls boss Jake White said after the match that it was a harsh call from referee Mike Adamson to send Gumede off, it was a needless response from the 24-year-old as players simply can’t put their hands around the faces of opponents in contact.
Farrell’s Jack Crowley decision: Ireland head coach Farrell sprung a surprise when he named first choice fly-half Crowley on the replacements bench for their Autumn Nations Series clash against Australia with Sam Prendergast preferred as the starting number 10. To add insult to injury, Farrell sent Crowley to face the media early in the week – before the team announcement – and the Munster playmaker’s disappointment was evident. Former Ireland wing Shane Horgan described it as a “cruel and unusual punishment” from Farrell and it’s difficult to argue against that.
READ MORE: Ireland great hits out at Andy Farrell’s ‘cruel and unusual punishment’ for Jack Crowley
