Who’s hot and who’s not: Fiji’s dominance continues as ‘overpowered’ New Zealand have World Cup title defence ended by ‘crowdfunded’ Canadians
Fiji won the Pacific Nations Cup title while Black Ferns were knocked out of the Women's Rugby World Cup.
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!
Fiji make it seven: A remarkable seventh Pacific Nations Cup (PNC) title was wrapped up by the Flying Fijians in Utah on Saturday as they got the better of Japan 33-27 in an epic final. Despite falling to an early 10-0 deficit, the islanders rallied and racked up 33 unanswered points that included two tries from the excellent Joji Nasova before the Brave Blossoms launched a late fightback that ultimately came up just short. Congratulations to Mick Byrne’s side whose love affair with this trophy continues.
Canada and Red Roses: First off, Canada. Wow, that was an outstanding performance against New Zealand as they deservedly ran out 34-19 winners in Bristol on Friday. Sophie de Goede (more on her later), Justine Pelletier, Asia Hogan-Rochester, Flo Symonds and Alex Tessier all crossed the whitewash for Kévin Rouet’s outfit while De Goede contributed a further nine points off the tee. The speed at which they play around the ruck proved too much for the Black Ferns and Symonds’ crossing in particular was a clinic on how to create space out wide and capitalise. England are set to have a real challenge on their hands in the final, this after the Red Roses saw off France 35-17 on Saturday. Ellie Kildunne (2), Amy Cokayne, Abbie Ward and Meg Jones grabbed their scores. What a Women’s Rugby World Cup final we have in prospect.
Griquas end long wait: It’s been 55 years since the Griquas had won the Currie Cup, but South Africa’s prized jewel is finally theirs again after a dramatic ending in Johannesburg. Veteran fly-half George Whitehead nailed a late penalty goal to secure a 27-25 victory, ending their long wait to hold the trophy aloft. The victory is all the more impressive after they had lost 37-7 to the same opposition earlier in the season. Hats off to the underdog Kimberley outfit, who no doubt celebrated long into the night.
Sophie de Goede stars: So good, she gets her own section. De Goede is a real superstar and certainly impressed in front of camera before, during and after Friday’s semi-final win over the Black Ferns. An all-court second-row, she is a defensive rock, attacking powerhouse and also impressive off the kicking tee, with the sport having an inspirational figure for youngsters to look up to. She’s led a crowdfunded Canadian side to the World Cup final, and is now on the verge of something truly special as a skipper.
Otago: Heading to New Zealand now, where the Ranfurly Shield changed hands yet again. Over the weekend the challenge was thrown down by Otago to Canterbury and it was a rip-roaring clash that the latter won 38-36. The visitors were down 14-0 early on and trailed for much of the match, notably at 36-21 on 57 minutes, but never gave up and ultimately came out on top. Sam Nemec-Vial, Joseva Tamani, Lucas Casey (2), Jae Broomfield and Liam Coltman scored their tries, with Casey’s second a beauty.
BROKEN THERMOSTAT
Louis Rees-Zammit: Talk about an eventful return to Gloucester for new Bristol Bears signing Rees-Zammit. In just his second game since joining the Bears, the Welsh flyer was in the thick of it in their PREM Cup meeting at Kingsholm as he experienced hot and cold moments on Friday evening. First, the good as Rees-Zammit showed what we all know he can do when he raced over for a try on 20 minutes that silenced the Shed. However, things went a tad pear-shaped thereafter as he butchered what looked a certain score down the right wing before he was sin-binned for his part in a scuffle between the teams. It was never going to be a quiet return to Kingsholm for the high-profile LRZ, was it?
COLD AS ICE
Black Ferns: They were slight favourites to come out on top against Canada on Friday but many, us included, believed it would be a difficult ask for the Black Ferns. However, it was still somewhat disappointing to see the six-time World Cup winners come up as short as they did in Bristol. They were very much second best as Canada overpowered them and while there were some positives to takes from this tournament, notably Braxton Sorensen-McGee’s first World Cup, not making the final will sting.
Lions agony: Not again, surely? For the second straight season, the Lions lost the Currie Cup final due to a late penalty goal after they went down to the Griquas in the above-mentioned clash. Lions replacement Lubabalo Dobela thought he had won it for his side with a 79th-minute shot at goal that made it 25-24, but there was more drama to come, unfortunately for the hosts. Whitehead was the hero for the Griquas as the ghosts of 2024 and that final against the Sharks came back to haunt the Jo’burg outfit.
Rugby Championship concern: It would have to be the season when all four teams are bang in the running for the title that news breaks that the Rugby Championship in its current guise could be scrapped until at least 2029. The Sydney Morning Herald report suggests that tours of rival nations are likely to be the way forward, with the All Blacks set to head to South Africa next year. It’s a major setback for the competition and a shame as this year’s offering has been edge-of-the-seat stuff.
Montauban: It’s been a tough start to life in the Top 14 for the newly-promoted side as Stade Francais (away) was followed by Lyon (home) and most recently the mighty Bordeaux-Begles (away). The chickens came home to roost as they say as the gulf in class was clear for all to see, with UBB grabbing 11 tries that resulted in 71 points. To Montauban’s credit, they did post 24 points of their own but this was quiet the hiding, with the result compounded by news that they also had their Pro D2 trophy stolen at an event.
Rieko Ioane struggles in NPC: His first taste of NPC action for five years looked an ideal opportunity for Ioane to put in a statement performance to Scott Robertson that he warrants his place in the All Blacks side. However, it was far from that as the centre struggled for Auckland in their loss to Counties Manukau, making a poor read early on and then being wasteful with ball in hand. On this showing it looks unlikely like a return to the Test team is happening soon.