Who’s hot and who’s not: Glasgow Warriors and Blues delight, All Blacks squad, unwanted records and Jake White’s unnecessary comments

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It was a great weekend for the Blues while Jake White made a bizarre comment after defeat.

It was a great weekend for the Blues while Jake White made a bizarre comment after defeat.

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!

Glasgow Warriors delight: United Rugby Championship silverware should now be safely tucked away in Glasgow Warriors‘ cabinet after an heroic win over the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld. To defeat Munster and the Bulls on the road takes some doing, and hats off to Franco Smith and his players for their achievement in the last couple of weeks. Tries from Scott Cummings, George Turner and Huw Jones saw them to victory but everyone stepped up and were counted in a superb win which not only is fantastic for Glasgow but also Scottish rugby in general.

Marcus Smith and England: Smith helped inspire the Red Rose to an impressive 52-17 victory over Japan in Tokyo on Saturday as he pressed his claims for the number 10 jersey ahead of the upcoming series with the All Blacks. The Harlequin grabbed his opportunity with both hands against an inexperienced Brave Blossoms side, and it will be interesting to see who Steve Borthwick opts for in Dunedin next week. Chandler Cunningham-South also impressed as England eased to the win, which was a good hit-out for them ahead of New Zealand.

Edwill’s perfect debut: Speaking of taking chances, Edwill van der Merwe did just that in a try-scoring bow against Wales. Defensively, he was excellent and backed that up with an all-action showing with the ball in hand. The Springboks boast an embarrassment of riches on the wing and when everyone is fit, head coach Rassie Erasmus has a difficult job picking just two wide men. One thing is for sure though and that is Van der Merwe, 28, did his chances of further caps no harm at all as he transferred his Lions form in the URC to the international arena.

Barbarians against Fiji: What a game. Those who purchased tickets for the double-header at Twickenham got value for money and then some as following the Springboks v Wales game came the Barbarians v Fiji. The latter was a thrill-a-minute affair as both sides threw caution to the wind, as is their wont. The sun was shining, and tries were plentiful as, once again, the Barbarians brand was a great advert for rugby. A young Fiji side must also take a bow for the match that saw 11 tries and 77 points scored, as the pace was incredible right from the kick-off.

International Team of the Week: Barbarians and Springboks debutant rewarded while Marcus Smith grabs his chance

Super joy for the Blues: After 21 long years of waiting, the Blues finally have a full Super Rugby title to their name. A comprehensive 41-10 win over the Chiefs in the final saw them become champions on a special day for all involved with the club. A Caleb Clarke hat-trick stood out while Akira Ioane and AJ Lam also crossed the whitewash and Harry Plummer kicked well, with Ioane given the perfect send-off ahead of leaving for Japan. Congratulations to the Blues, as the torch has finally been passed by the Crusaders after seven straight seasons of winning.

Top 14 finalists: And then there were just two as Bordeaux-Begles and Toulouse booked their place in the Top 14 final with victories over Stade Francais and La Rochelle, respectively. Toulouse claimed a rather convincing 39-23 victory over Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle in the first semi-final before Bordeaux clinched a narrow 20-22 win over Stade Francais. It promises to be a wonderful final this coming weekend.

Kurley Beale’s comeback: 12 uncapped players were selected in Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies squad but it was an old stager who caught the eye as 35-year-old Beale received a call-up. Since signing a short-term deal with the Force, following a difficult year off the field, Beale has stood out at full-back and looks more than ready to return to the Wallabies jersey, if picked. Former All Black Alex Hodgman and those 12 new faces that include Michael Lynagh’s son, Tom, will also be desperate to feature in Schmidt’s plans. It’s a new era for Australian rugby.

Scott Robertson’s first All Blacks’ squad and new captain: Five uncapped players have been named in the New Zealand squad ahead of the upcoming two-Test series against England in July. George Bell, Pasilio Tosi, Wallace Sititi, Cortez Ratima and Billy Proctor will all be looking to make their Test debuts in 2024, while Robertson has also picked Scott Barrett as his skipper, beating Ardie Savea to the captaincy.

All Blacks captaincy decided as Scott Robertson snubs record holder for son of Samoan legend

COLD AS ICE!

Charlie Ewels’ record: England lock Ewels became the first player ever to be sent-off in consecutive Test matches after he was given his marching orders against Japan on Saturday. Incredibly this was the forward’s second red card in just 10 minutes and 32 seconds while on England duty and he can have no complaints again, with his clearout on Brave Blossoms legend Michael Leitch definitely worthy of a red. Subsequently, Ewels has been suspended for England’s upcoming two-Test series against the All Blacks with Nick Isiekwe replacing him.

Dan McKellar’s exit: An eighth-place finish in the Premiership ultimately sealed McKellar’s fate as his departure, by mutual consent, was confirmed on Saturday evening. The news came out of the blue and was strange in that his exit comes after the recent appointment of Peter Hewat as attack coach. Leicester possibly had to respond after the Telegraph reported the exit was coming, which isn’t ideal. It probably all could have been handled in a better and more timely way, with Leicester fans now waiting to see whether Michael Cheika will be named.

Ireland’s injury setback: Probably the player Ireland did not want to be without against the Springboks. Jamison Gibson-Park has been ruled out of the mouth-watering series due to injury. He has been ultra-consistent for both Leinster and Ireland for such a long time and is subsequently one of the first names down on Andy Farrell’s teamsheet. Compounding Gibson-Park’s injury is the absence of number eight Jack Conan in what is a double blow for Ireland ahead of the tour. How they will cope without the pair on South African soil is a big concern.

Chiefs don’t turn up: That loss will be hard to take, but the Chiefs can have no complaints as they were completely outplayed by the Blues in Auckland on Saturday. However, much more was expected of Damian McKenzie and company as they simply couldn’t live with the Blues’ tempo, accuracy and intensity on the night. They will be back though, of that there is little doubt, and plenty of players such as Wallace Sititi and Cortez Ratima have been success stories during this season. There’s a healthy crop of talent in the team, with McKenzie steering at 10.

Jake White’s comments: Clearly upset after his side lost a second URC final in three seasons, White possibly should have paused before making comments about the officiating and his view that Italy’s Andrea Piardi favours away teams. “It’s twice in a row now the referee’s let the away team win. In fact, three times; Munster won in Cape Town, Glasgow won in Munster, we won in Leinster and this referee let the away team win, so maybe next year I’ll ask when we play away that I want him to try to ref us.” White was clearly irked by the referee but it’s never a good look to point the finger in that direction after defeat. One wonders if there might be repercussions after that press conference.

Reda Wardi: A moment of utter madness. Trailing to Toulouse and despite being a man down after Uini Atonio’s sending-off, La Rochelle had a prime opportunity to strike from a scrum five metres from their opposition’s line. However, a mighty scrum from Toulouse clinched a penalty, and as hooker Julien Marchand celebrated, he pushed the La Rochelle loosehead, who responded with a headbutt! Marchand was sent to the sin bin while Wardi’s game was ended as he was shown red. That ended all hope of La Rochelle making a late comeback as they played out the rest of the semi-final fixture with 13 men on the field after what was really a brain-dead decision from the international prop.

Wales’ unwanted issues: Warren Gatland has enough problems with injuries at the minute, so when a report emerged that hooker Sam Parry had left the squad on the eve of the Springboks fixture after claiming a lack of respect from the coach, questions needed answering. Gatland was duly quizzed on the situation over the weekend and believes he was honest with Parry, saying: “I was straight up with him and told him what the situation he was in in the squad. I said that he was initially covering for Elliot (Dee) with the injury. So, I was clear in that. I am not sure how I disrespected him there. There was definitely nothing from me in terms of trying to disrespect him. I just wanted to be honest and upfront with him.” Disrespected or not, it was an unwanted story for Gatland and Wales ahead of and after the Boks meeting.

READ MORE: Wales great hits out at Warren Gatland as forward walks out after head coach’s alleged ‘disrespect’

Australia Jake White Marcus Smith

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