Who’s hot and who’s not: Match-winners, Wellington joy, England rocked by injuries and Finn Russell in the cold for Scotland

Adam Kyriacou
Who's hot and who's not

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!

Alex Goode and Adam Hastings step up for their clubs: These two were the toast of Saracens and Gloucester respectively over the weekend as Goode, a replacement for the injured Owen Farrell, nailed a late penalty to snatch victory at Exeter Chiefs, while Hastings whacked over a 55-metre drop goal that ultimately won the game for the Cherry and Whites at London Irish. Goode’s was much more elegant as he stroked it over off the tee in their 22-20 victory but, although Hastings’ effort wobbled its way over the cross-bar, Gloucester fans will care not a jot about how it looked as it brought them four points. As a result, it keeps Saracens top and Gloucester not far behind in third.

Famous double for Wellington: The NPC title was added to the Ranfurly Shield on Saturday to cap a memorable season for Wellington. Led by the inspirational Du’Plessis Kirifi, the Lions thoroughly deserved their 26-18 triumph over Canterbury in Christchurch as they shone both in attack and defence. It will have been an extra sweet moment for TJ Perenara, who looks to prove he is still worthy of All Blacks selection, and Julian Savea, as he has his own personal drive to get back to the very top of the game. To a man this Wellington outfit were superb but special mentions to Ruben Love, Kirifi, Perenara and also veteran Dominic Bird, who got one over his former employers.

Bath finally claim victory: A stretch of six defeats in a row in the Premiership was finally brought to an end on Saturday as the duck was broken for Johann van Graan’s men. While they have been losing week by week, it hasn’t all been doom and gloom in terms of performances from Bath, but there is no substitute for points on the table and finally the W came at The Rec as they beat Northampton Saints 27-14. This victory shoots them up the standings to ninth and Van Graan and his side will now be looking to build on the winning vibes moving forward.

Bulls’ stunning second half in Treviso: Defeats on the road to Glasgow Warriors and Munster in recent weeks meant the Bulls were eager to end a tour to forget with victory at Benetton on Friday. That wasn’t looking likely at the break in Italy as they trailed 9-3, but credit to last year’s losing finalists as they upped the ante in the second period to run out 44-22 winners. Three tries in the last eight minutes sends them back to South Africa much happier than they might have been and puts them in third spot as they now enjoy a bye week which they probably need.

Jacob Stockdale back in Ireland reckoning: It was a good week for the Ulsterman as he was recalled to Andy Farrell’s 37-man Ireland squad for their upcoming Autumn Nations Series internationals against South Africa, Fiji and Australia. Stockdale will be looking to impress as he hasn’t featured for Ireland at Test level since July 2021 when they beat Japan at the Aviva Stadium. Since then, the 26-year-old has spent most of his time on the sidelines with a serious knee injury but has recovered and played well for Ulster in the URC in recent weeks.

Contract boosts for All Blacks: With next year’s Rugby World Cup looming, the three-time world champions received a shot in the arm with the news that utility back Rieko Ioane and second-row Tupou Vaa’i have signed new contracts. Ioane has put pen to paper on a short-term deal which will see him stay in New Zealand with Super Rugby Pacific outfit the Blues until the end of 2023. Meanwhile, at the age of 22, Vaa’i is still young for a lock but is highly rated in New Zealand as he has signed a deal which takes him through until 2025, where he will continue playing his club rugby for the Chiefs.

COLD AS ICE!

Gregor Townsend and Finn Russell: Although fly-half Russell is unavailable for Scotland’s first match of the Autumn Nations Series against Australia, the decision by head coach Townsend to leave the playmaker out of his squad for the entire series did come as a shock. When on song, Russell is one of the world’s best number 10s but boss Townsend has cited his poor form for Racing 92 as the reason for his omission. However, Russell and Townsend have never really seen eye-to-eye. The duo reportedly clashed during a 2019 Calcutta Cup Test at Twickenham and the following year there was another disagreement between them which resulted in Russell leaving the Scotland camp ahead of the Six Nations. It is quite clear that on-field performances have nothing to do with the head coach’s decision, especially with Glasgow pivot Ross Thompson, who has barely played any rugby this season, receiving a call-up ahead of the 30-year-old.

Injuries rack up for England: England’s preparations for the upcoming Autumn Nations Series were hit by another setback after Exeter Chiefs hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie, Saracens fly-half Owen Farrell and Northampton Saints flanker Lewis Ludlam went off on Saturday. After Jonny May and Henry Arundell suffered elbow and ankle issues respectively in the Gloucester v London Irish fixture on Friday, the Cowan-Dickie, Farrell and Ludlam injuries were not what Eddie Jones wanted to see as the year-end campaign fast approaches. Get set for medical updates galore in the coming days.

Levi Aumua selection controversy: New Zealand Rugby’s decision to pick Aumua in the All Blacks XV squad that will face an Ireland ‘A’ outfit and the Barbarians in November has not gone down well with Manu Samoa head coach Seilala Mapusua, who has not held back in his criticism. Mapusua claims the call-up has undermined the purpose of new Super Rugby Pacific team Moana Pasifika, which he believed was created to give Pacific Islanders a stronger club platform to showcase their talents and grow as players. Although the All Blacks XV is not a capture team (i.e if he plays next month he won’t be tied to New Zealand), it sends the wrong message, so we absolutely understand Mapusua’s frustrations.

Sale Sharks out of sorts against Harlequins: While praise must be dished out to the likes of Marcus Smith and Danny Care for their polished performances, the same cannot be said of Sale after Sunday’s home defeat. Heading into the weekend at the summit of the Premiership table following five wins out of five, the Sharks were expected to continue their run at the AJ Bell Stadium against a Quins side that had won just two out of five before kick off. However, Sale were sloppy in possession and didn’t display their usual physicality, which allowed the likes of Smith and Care to stamp their unique talents on the game. Alex Sanderson will now want a response away to Saracens.

Cruel blow for Matt Philip: The 28-year-old Rebels second-row was named in Wallabies head coach Dave Rennie’s squad for their year-end tour to Europe but things went awry when he sustained an ACL injury during a training session shortly before they were due to depart from Australia. It really is rotten luck for Philip, who only recently returned to action after recovering from a sternum injury that ruled him out of the latter part of Australia’s Rugby Championship campaign, and he is now set to miss a significant part of Super Rugby Pacific in 2023.

Cancellations in South Africa: What a shame it was that both the Sharks v Ulster and Lions v Glasgow Warriors clashes were postponed due to illness in the tourists’ camps. An update from Ulster on Sunday revealed just how bad things were in their party as 29 players and 13 staff were struck down, with E. coli and Norovirus found in tested samples. Anyone questioning the validity of Ulster’s and Glasgow’s move to pull out of their respective fixtures will hopefully now rethink their baffling claims. We wish all those affected a fast and complete recovery.

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