Who’s hot and who’s not: ‘Clutch’ Crowley, Ronan O’Gara’s struggles and the Premiership’s humiliation
Check who's hot and not following the week's on and off-field action.
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!
Jack Crowley drop-kicks ROG out: The irony did not escape Ronan O’Gara in the post-match press conference as La Rochelle were dumped out of the Champions Cup thanks largely to a fantastic drop-goal from a Munster fly-half. It was a trademark of O’Gara’s game during his career, but this time around, it was he who fell victim to a clutch drop-goal from a Munster number 10.
Brutal Bulls: Jake White’s charges are the only South African team left in the EPCR tournaments, with the Sharks and Lions bowing out this weekend. The Bulls brought an end to Leinster’s unbeaten run in the URC last month and broke another streak this past weekend, beating Bayonne 32-22, handing the French club their first home defeat of the season to progress into the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup.
Parachuter saved: Toulouse’s clash with Sale Sharks on Sunday went viral before the opening whistle as the match was delayed by 40 minutes after a parachutist crashed into the stadium roof. It was concerning scenes as the hanging man was stuck for over 30 minutes until the fire services came to his rescue. He was brought safely to ground with the help of two firefighters. It could have gone horribly wrong but, thankfully, the parachutist survived the affair and the game was able to be played.
👉 Investec Champions Cup 2024-25: Quarter-final ties, times and dates revealed
French Bomb Squads: The impact of France’s bench steered them to a Six Nations title and by the looks of it, the Top 14 clubs have taken inspiration from that as they bid to win the top EPCR prize. Toulon trailed Saracens by eight points at half-time before coach Pierre Mignoni made key changes with Baptiste Serin making a telling impact as the French club hammered Saracens 72-42. It was a similar story in Toulouse as their bench saw off the heroic efforts of Sale Sharks. Even Castres got a boost from the bench as Jeremy Fernandez scored the deciding points in the victory over Benetton.
Moana Pasifika: Another week and another famous victory for Moana Pasifika as Ardie Savea put in another blinder to help his side defeat the Waratahs – going back-to-back over the Australian club. Tana Umaga has made a huge impact at the club this season as they gather momentum at the right time having beaten the Crusaders last week.
Glasgow Warriors: The Franco Smith-coached side faced a real challenge in the form of Leicester Tigers this weekend, particularly with several star men missing the last-16 fixture. However, Glasgow embodied the warrior spirit as they dismantled Michael Cheika’s charges, scoring six tries to seal a spot in the quarter-finals where they will meet Leinster. They will head into the match as real underdogs but few would have predicted that they would win the URC last season and, considering how well-coached and organised they are, one cannot write them off.
Ruthless Leinster: Harlequins provided a potential banana skin for the Irish province, who are looking to finally go one better after a hat-trick of final defeats. However, Leinster were ruthless on Saturday as they ran in 10 tries to emphatically put Quins to the sword with the 62-0 scoreline, which was made a little more respectable by four missed conversions. Jacques Nienaber will be most pleased by nilling Harlequins in what was an absolute whipping.
Sale Sharks: Out of all the Premiership clubs, Alex Sanderson’s men were arguably given the slimmest chance of progressing further in the Champions Cup, but the Sharks made a good fist of their clash against the title favourites.
Western Force: After seven rounds of Super Rugby Pacific, few would have predicted that the Perth-based outfit would be in the top four but Simon Cron’s charges have been good value for their placing, particularly in their narrow victory over the Highlanders this weekend.
BROKEN THERMOSTAT
Rugby World Cup bidders: Reports broke this week revealing the bidders to host the 2035 Rugby World Cup, news which will polarise the public. Initially, the Middle Eastern countries of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE stole the headlines with their planned bid but it is understood that 2035 is too soon for them to produce a competitive team. Instead, World Rugby would prefer a European host in 2035 with Spain moving to the front of the pack ahead of Japan and Italy. Additionally, a prominent rugby boss states that South Africa are not in the conversation to host a World Cup again.
COLD AS ICE!
Premiership defences: It was a tough weekend for the Premiership clubs this weekend, with four of the five teams bowing out in the Investec Champions Cup, but it was an even tougher week for the respective defence coaches. Over the five matches, the Premiership clubs conceded 34 tries and 239 points with Harlequins and Saracens conceding 10 tries apiece.
Harlequins nilled: In 2014, Leinster managed just a one-point victory over Quins in the Champions Cup but this time around it was one-way traffic. There were those who predicted that Harlequins could produce an upset but it was far from it as the Irish province simply dominated, scoring 10 unanswered tries and keeping Quins pointless across the 80 minutes.
Underwhelming New Zealand derby: Blues v Hurricanes would normally be the pick of the games of the weekend in Super Rugby Pacific but, quite frankly, the strugglers produced an underwhelming and rather dull affair on Saturday at Eden Park. Beauden Barrett’s brilliance ultimately proved the difference but the lack of accuracy and slick handling meant this match simply flattered to meet the high standards an Aotearoa derby usually promises.
ROG’s struggles: The pressure continues to mount on O’Gara after his side crashed out of the Champions Cup, falling to a defeat to Munster. La Rochelle have now lost eight of their nine last matches, drawing the other. His attention now turns to grabbing an unlikely Top 14 play-off spot, which might be enough to save his job. While he has been hugely successful at La Rochelle one has to ask, how much credit does he still have left in the bank with the club’s bigwigs?
Michael Cheika ref-bashing: It’s becoming an unfortunate trend that coaches bash referees in the post-match pressers and this weekend Chieka followed suit. He slammed “a ridiculous yellow card” and went on a rant about how it impacted his team in the defeat to Glasgow Warriors. We’ve already seen Irish referee Chris Busby hang up his whistle over the lack of protection from the governing bodies and if coaches continue to hit out at the officials without punishment, many could follow suit.
“It is a ridiculous yellow card”
It’s fair to say Leicester Tigers head coach Michael Cheika wasn’t best pleased with referee Craig Evans pic.twitter.com/zo7oP8pVja
— Scotland Rugby News (@ScotRugbyNews) April 5, 2025
Rugby Australia lose top talents: The Wallabies were hit with a significant double blow last week with Jordan Petaia sealing an NFL contract while fly-half Noah Lolesio signed a deal with an unnamed Japanese club. It’s a real shame that two 25-year-olds may well have played their final games for the Wallabies already.
READ MORE: 👉 Noah Lolesio reveals how the Wallabies ‘made it tough to stay’ and Joe Schmidt’s reaction
