Who’s hot and who’s not: Lions wow and Premiership thrillers, France A v All Blacks and the Sexton-Ioane spat
Split with Cam Roigard and Michael Cheika.
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!
England call-ups: The headline additions to Steve Borthwick’s squad that was announced on Friday were hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie and centre Alex Lozowski. Both players are rewarded for impressive form and it’s pleasing for different reasons to see them named in the group. Cowan-Dickie has bounced back from injury problems while Lozowski was strangely overlooked for a number of years, despite his qualities and versatility. Alongside the likes of forwards Greg Fisilau, Tom Pearson, Tom Willis and Trevor Davison as well as back trio Oscar Beard, Elliot Daly and Jack van Poortvliet, all those included in the 36-player squad will no doubt be delighted and keen to feature in November.
Thriller at the Gardens: To be honest, all four games that took place on Friday night in the Premiership and United Rugby Championship were humdingers but we pick out the Northampton v Harlequins clash as it was such a thrilling affair. Marcus Smith shone for Quins in the full-back position with a 19-point haul but it was in vain as the hosts came out on top, scoring five tries in the win that included a penalty try. At times Saints were a joy to watch and look every bit challengers for the title again while Harlequins will also be a threat with players back.
Lions come out roaring: An incredible first-half showing from the Lions as they went into the break leading 48-0! Edinburgh were simply blown away as Saturday’s URC action kicked off with a bang at Ellis Park. It was always going to be difficult to follow up that showing in the second period – a half they ended up losing 21-7 – but the job had been done as the exciting Lions make it two wins out of two this campaign, with only the Bulls and Leinster as the other unbeaten team remaining in the league after they overcame Ulster and Benetton respectively.
Munster’s response: Staying with the URC and it was an impressive response from Munster to Round Two’s shock 42-33 defeat at Zebre Parma. No doubt their confidence would have taken a hit after that defeat in Italy but they showed real fight to nil the Ospreys while picking up a 23-0 bonus-point win in awful conditions in Cork. Defensively it was chalk and cheese from the previous week as Munster won the vast majority of collisions and were led well by Player of the Match Craig Casey, with half-back partner Jack Crowley also in impressive form.
Cam Roigard’s comeback: It was pleasing to see All Blacks scrum-half Roigard mark his return to the field in the National Provincial Championship with a two-try performance in a Counties Manukau shirt. Widely backed as the long-term future at number nine for New Zealand, a cruel injury blow last year ended his World Cup hopes and subsequently delayed his inevitable rise to the top. Adding further to the positives around his injury return is a call-up for the All Blacks in their squad for the northern tour where we expect him to shine.
Cam Roigard has TWO! 🔥
📺 Watch live on @skysportnz pic.twitter.com/1MKTj1BDIy
— Bunnings NPC (@BunningsNPC) October 5, 2024
James O’Connor’s move: Who saw this switch coming? O’Connor had already announced he was leaving the Reds at the end of the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season for a move abroad but few expected it to be to New Zealand. The Crusaders have signed one of the game’s greats in a shrewd acquisition, as the fly-half will be a perfect mentor to younger players while also being a great option to head coach Rob Penney. The Crusaders were short on experience last season so this is an ideal new arrival who their supporters will hope stays injury free in 2025.
Bragging rights for Bristol: The last weekend had one surprise result as last season’s finalists, Bath, were beaten 36-26 by an inspired Bristol Bears side. Los Pumas back-row Santiago Grondona had a debut for the ages as he scored two tries to truly announce himself to the Premiership. Bristol will be delighted to have produced such a key win while it is back to the drawing board for Johann van Graan’s Bath.
BROKEN THERMOSTAT
Michael Cheika banned: The former Wallabies and Los Pumas boss received a two-game ban for a rare instance where two of his players, Solomone Kata and Ollie Chessum, clashed heads in their Round Two Premiership fixture against Bath. Kata was deemed not able to return by the independent match day doctor (IMDD) but Chessum was allowed to come back on to the field but was later removed by the IMDD, leading Cheika to go searching for an explanation. It was then that the head coach was believed to be getting frustrated with the IMDD and intimated him through a raised voice and aggressive body language. Cheika will serve a two-week suspension and has been fined £500.
COLD AS ICE!
Edinburgh’s poor outing: We’ve touched on this already whilst praising the Lions but Edinburgh simply had to feature in our not list after their dismal opening 40 minutes in Johannesburg. Former Scotland captain John Barclay did not hold back on their performance, saying: “Edinburgh is a club with aspiration, ambition and great history and you are losing 48-0 at half-time. It’s an embarrassment, it’s a disaster.” He believes it’s a “big puzzle to fix” for the coaching staff and players and one wonders how they will respond on Saturday when they run out at home for a game against a Stormers side that looked in lethal form over the weekend. Plenty to work on this week no doubt.
France A v All Blacks: It’s not the first time that Les Bleus have opted to give their star players a break in the European summer. One may recall when that they toured Australia in 2021 and left the likes of Antoine Dupont and several others at home, thus handing opportunities to fringe players who more than took their chance. The All Blacks are the next team on the receiving end of this for next year’s series and New Zealand Rugby are reportedly “livid” over the move. While we completely understand France‘s decision with the Top 14 such an unforgiving and long-winded league, it is a real shame we won’t get the blockbuster names facing off, which is why we put this news in the cold section.
Zebre back down to earth: After claiming the scalp of Munster it was the Stormers who provided the next test for Zebre at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi on Saturday. However, the hosts could not back up their Round Two success and were well beaten 36-5 by the South African side. Perhaps there was a physical hangover from last week or mentally they weren’t at the races but they will be disappointed taste defeat again.
Sexton v Ioane fallout: Going back to the All Blacks here as a period of last week was dominated by that post-Rugby World Cup quarter-final clash that saw Johnny Sexton and Rieko Ioane exchange words. Well an excerpt from Sexton’s soon-to-be-released book, Obsessed, has been released and it has reignited the war of words. Now-retired Sexton called Ioane “fake-humble” while current All Black Ioane has since posted on social media a picture of the pair in that match with the audio playing ‘Zombie’ by The Cranberries and then duly shortened it to the part when the words “in your head” regularly repeated. Some may enjoy the back and forth but for us it is unnecessary from both men.
Pointless Exeter and Newcastle: Three weeks in and still yet to have a point to their name on the Premiership table as Newcastle and Exeter fell to Leicester Tigers and Saracens respectively. The Falcons were hopeful of being much more competitive this season but if this defeat to the East Midlands side is anything to go off, it promises to be another tough campaign ahead. Meanwhile, the Chiefs were easily beaten by Sarries on Sunday. Injuries of course have hit them hard even this early into the season but it’s hard to hide from that 0 from 3.
