Who’s hot and who’s not: Eben Etzebeth’s ‘inexcusable’ act, a weekend of shock results and Antoine Dupont’s return
Who's Hot and Who's Not Antoine Dupont and Eben Etzebeth
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
Springboks fire: A comfortable win was expected but few predicted a 73-0 scoreline as South Africa dominated Wales from start to finish in an 11-try victory. Gerhard Steenekamp, Ethan Hooker, Jasper Wiese, Morne van den Berg, Wilco Louw, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (2), Canan Moodie, Andre Esterhuizen, Ruan Nortje and Eben Etzebeth all crossed the whitewash as Rassie Erasmus’ charges signed off 2025 in emphatic style. What a year it has been for the Boks as they have combined creating incredible depth with red-hot performances on the field.
Exeter fightback: Speaking of being red-hot, the Chiefs were certainly that in the second half against Sale Sharks as they fought back from 26-9 down to win 27-26 in a spectacular recovery on Friday. The result took them provisionally to the summit of English club rugby, which is some achievement after last season’s nightmare. It was a hugely impressive performance after the break, and they rightly celebrated in style.
Ulster impress: There is a lot to like about Ulster at the moment, and their solid start to the United Rugby Championship season continued with a 47-13 home win over a dangerous Benetton side. The Irish province are in fourth spot with a game in hand going into the URC break.
Lions derby win: Climbing the URC standings are the Lions after their Jukskei derby victory over the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld. The 43-33 win in Pretoria saw them cross the whitewash six times and shoots them up the table to seventh, one place above the Bulls who drop down.
Rassie Erasmus reveals risky 2026 strategy despite ‘disagreeing’ over ageing Springboks
Scarlets back: Before the round’s action, the Scarlets had the horrible sight of a 0 beside their name after registering four straight defeats to start the season. However, that finally changed on Saturday night as they nilled former URC champions Glasgow Warriors in Llanelli. It was a richly deserved 23-0 triumph, and while it doesn’t take Dwayne Peel’s men off bottom spot, they will certainly be feeling much better.
Antoine Dupont is back!: After more than eight months on the sidelines, the France captain finally made his return from injury. The 29-year-old came off the bench for Toulouse in their 48-24 victory over Racing 92 and put a lovely dink over the top, setting up a try for winger Matthis Lebel. Dupont looked sharp on his return from injury in what was a memorable night for the club, who also bid farewell to long-serving centre Pita Ahki, who will be joining the Blues next season.
Retour réussi pour Antoine Dupont déjà très en vue @StadeToulousain 🔥#TOP14 pic.twitter.com/JziztencCL
— TOP 14 Rugby (@top14rugby) November 30, 2025
Unbeaten Stormers: What a performance. Saturday’s clash at Thomond Park pitted the two unbeaten teams left in the URC against one another as Munster hosted the Stormers. It looked as though it would be the hosts who would continue their unbeaten streak, leading 21-6 at half-time after running in three tries. But the Stormers racked up 21 unanswered points after the break to win 21-27.
Stormers follow the Springboks’ example by scrumming their way to victory over Munster
COLD AS ICE
Wales: That was bad. As mentioned, 11 tries and 73 points shipped against them capped an overall disappointing Autumn Nations Series for the Welsh. To not fire a shot and be outplayed in all departments shone a light on how far behind Wales are to the best in Test rugby. While they were missing some key players, it’s difficult to hide from such a sobering defeat, and Steve Tandy will be picking the bones of this one.
Eben Etzebeth: Staying at the Principality Stadium and the Springboks’ record triumph was soured somewhat by Etzebeth being pictured pressing his thumb into the eye of Wales flanker Alex Mann during a confrontation. While there might have been provocation, there’s simply no excuse for what the experienced second-row did. A lengthy suspension could be coming as Etzebeth faces a nervous wait for his hearing.
Law discussion: Eben Etzebeth’s ban for an eye gouge unlikely to be nearly as harsh as you think
Janick Tarrit: Also on the naughty step is Racing hooker Tarrit, who inexplicably flew into Toulouse flanker Efrain Elias during the Top 14 clash on Saturday. On the stroke of half-time, he launched himself at Elias head-first and was subsequently sent off by referee Tual Trainini. What he was thinking we’re not sure, and compounding his red card was the fact that Toulouse had one last attack in the half and scored a key try.
Munster slump: Leading 21-6 at the break, it felt like Munster were heading towards their sixth win out of six this season. However, they unravelled in the second period, losing 27-21 at Thomond Park. While the Stormers are also riding high at the moment, it was a perfect time for Munster to face them, seeing as Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Damian Willemse, Cobus Reinach, Ben-Jason Dixon and Zachary Porthen were on Springboks duty, while others are such as Frans Malherbe, Seabelo Senatla, Suleiman Hartzenberg and Deon Fourie, are out injured.
Leinster miss: How this went unpunished, we will never know. Leinster flanker Scott Penny’s shoulder collided with the head of Dragons replacement Levi Douglas late in the game on Friday but referee Morne Ferreira and his team decided there was nothing illegal and it went unpunished. The decision came with the game in the balance at 17-10 to Leinster, who subsequently secured victory with a try shortly after.
Glasgow nilled: The shock of the weekend! The Scarlets had not picked up a single point heading into round six of the URC, and few would have given them even half a chance against a high-flying Glasgow Warriors. But Dwayne Peel’s team rallied to an impressive 23-point victory over the Warriors and impressively nilled the Scottish outfit.
Sharks disappoint: Saturday was not a day for Sharks fans. Etzebeth’s eye-gouge will see the experienced lock miss a chunk of games for the Durban-based outfit, and their woes were compounded as Connacht powered to a comfortable 44-17 victory over the Sharks in Galway. After six rounds, the Durbanites have won just one of their opening six games, leaving them in 14th place, ahead of the Dragons and Scarlets.
Harlequins: It’s been a tough start to the new season for the Famous Quarters, who have won just two of their opening six games, leaving them ranked just eighth overall. Armed with several returning England stars, they will have fancied their chances at Kingsholm against a lowly Gloucester side, but instead they unravelled again and were beaten 26-15. Another team stacked with stars that is struggling for results.