Who’s hot and who’s not: Premiership and URC play-offs confirmed, Evan Roos’ cheap shot and winless Zebre

Colin Newboult

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!

Well done Ulster, twice: Dan McFarland’s men made sure of second place in the United Rugby Championship after they got the job done against Edinburgh. They were dominant pretty much throughout on Friday and deservedly went away with a 28-14 triumph at the Kingspan Stadium. As a result, Ulster edge the Stormers, who finish in third on the same points but with fewer wins, and means they will have a home semi-final if they get there. It was a key result for Ulster, which came after the club unveiled the newly-named Nevin Spence Memorial Stand, named in honour of the centre who tragically lost his life along with his brother Graham and father Noel 10 years ago. What a lovely tribute.

Northampton turn on the style: That was some way to finish the regular season from the Saints, who romped to victory at Kingston Park on Friday. After being stunned early on by Adam Radwan’s superb try, Northampton clicked into gear and ended up easing to an impressive 66-5 success against Newcastle Falcons. They played some sublime rugby and, after London Irish’s defeat to Saracens on Sunday, qualified for the semi-finals. In this kind of form, they will provide a stern examination of Saracens’ qualities in the last-four in a fascinating fixture.

Sale Sharks seal home comforts: Congratulations to Alex Sanderson’s men, who will have their first home semi-final since winning the Premiership title in 2006. They have been outstanding for most of the season and secured their play-off fixture at the AJ Bell Stadium by overcoming Gloucester 25-22 at Kingsholm. The Sharks have stuttered recently but have come good at just the right time and, needless to say, will be a significant threat for the title. Sanderson’s charges have power and set-piece solidity, combined with some star quality behind the backline, so it will be fascinating to see whether they live up to that ability when the pressure comes on during the knockout stages.

Munster’s impressive fightback: The Irish province have been a strange team to watch this season. They started poorly before making improvements and getting on the right track under head coach Graham Rowntree. They went into their Champions Cup round-of-16 tie in reasonable shape but they were comprehensively outplayed by the Sharks. That rather raised doubts over their capabilities, and prior to the tour to South Africa, they were in danger of missing out on ‘European’ qualification for next season. However, Munster produced a huge display to defeat the Stormers in Cape Town and then came from 19 points down to draw with the Sharks in Durban. Rowntree’s men will therefore fancy their chances of heading to Scotstoun and picking up a victory over Glasgow Warriors to move into the URC semi-finals.

Clermont’s response to Delon Armitage: It was a busy Tuesday night in southern France as Toulon inducted eight players into their Hall of Fame. The event attracted past players to their former club, including former England international Armitage. During an interview at the event, Armitage called Clermont supporters “bastards” for heckling and whistling him for years after he showboated while scoring against them in the 2013 Heineken Cup final. Toulon distanced themselves from Armitage’s comments, but Clermont’s response was excellent! Les Jaunards’ statement, which was accompanied by an image of Napolioni Nalaga fending Armitage, read: “Better known for his outbursts than his advice, ex-Toulon full-back Delon Armitage took the liberty of insulting our supporters by publicly branding them “bastards” during the club’s hall of fame ceremony. A pitiful way of celebrating his reunion with the Toulon crowd who, like ours and all those who fill the stands of our sport, have mastered the nuance between ‘getting under the skin’ and ‘being insulting’.” Magnifique, Clermont Auvergne!

Free-scoring Bulls: Jake White’s charges have bounced back from their Champions Cup exit to Toulouse to win their next two United Rugby Championship fixtures by an aggregate score of 140-19. The Bulls ran in 11 tries against Zebre and backed that up with an emphatic 62-7 win over Leinster. The Irish province had not lost a single match this season before the defeat in Pretoria, but the Bulls were ruthless, handing the young side the heaviest defeat in their history. Bok wing Canan Moodie has been in stellar try-scoring form, grabbing three in the first game and a brace in the second. It’s a remarkable turnaround in fortunes for the Bulls after a poor run in all competitions in 2023.

COLD AS ICE!

Evan Roos’ cheap shot: Last season, the Springbok regularly featured as a ‘hot’ for his unbelievable performances for the Stormers, but this week, his hotheadedness earns him a mention. While he looked to be returning to form in his first start since coming back from injury, his performance against Benetton had an ugly stain when he was sin-binned for driving Manuel Zuliani’s head into the Danie Craven turf. Unnecessary was the word rightfully brandished to his actions, even if Zuliani had Roos’ team-mate in a headlock. It’s also not the first time the young Bok has committed this kind of offence after driving Leinster’s Harry Byrne’s face into the ground, while he had a similar altercation against Edinburgh last season.

Abysmal Newcastle Falcons: While the Saints were brilliant, Newcastle were shambolic, and it rather summed up a concerning few weeks for the Falcons. That display was the culmination of a month of disruption, starting with the departure of Dave Walder as head coach back in March. Fellow coaches Scott MacLeod and Mark Wilson followed him last week, announcing that they will seek pastures new at the end of the campaign, which has left Newcastle with plenty of rebuilding to do over the off-season. It is certainly a worrying time for the club, despite the re-signing of academy graduate and key back-rower Callum Chick.

Costly tweet from Jack Nowell: A few words have cost the England wing £10,000 after he was punished for posting a tweet criticising a decision of referee Karl Dickson. The match official controversially decided to hand Olly Woodburn a second yellow card and give Leicester a penalty try in the Tigers’ 62-19 triumph over Exeter Chiefs. It was a call which caused uproar on social media, with several Exeter players, including Nowell, voicing their displeasure. However, the 30-year-old was the only one to directly target Dickson’s decision, which has led to him being fined. The RFU also backed the referee by stating he had correctly followed the laws laid out by World Rugby. Ultimately, Nowell was a bit too forthright and was rightly punished for his actions, but we do have an element of sympathy. This law needs to be altered in the wake of the Woodburn call or else it could open a can of worms going forward.

Josh Navidi forced into retirement: It was very sad to see the Wales and Cardiff back-rower hang up his boots last weekend. Navidi was an outstanding player for both region and country, making each team he played for substantially better. Unfortunately, the 32-year-old was unable to overcome a serious neck injury as he retired from the game, having earned 33 caps for the national team. It could, and perhaps should, have been even more, but Navidi can still be very proud of what he achieved in the game. We wish him all the best in the future and look forward to what he does next.

Dai Young suspended: Continuing with the Cardiff theme, it was revealed that their director of rugby had been suspended and duly missed Cardiff’s 38-21 triumph over fellow Welsh region Ospreys in the United Rugby Championship. The capital club described it as “unforeseen circumstances” but, according to reports in the British media, several complaints have been made over Young’s conduct by employees, including players.

https://twitter.com/MikeBubbins/status/1649443216414916610

Winless Zebre: It’s been a tough season for the Italian side, who lost every single one of their 18 URC matches this season. In fact, Zebre lost all four of their matches in the Challenge Cup too. In the URC, they conceded 734 points at an average of around 41 points per game. The Dragons leaked the second most points (534), but the 200-point difference just shows how far off the pace the Italians are. This season’s disappointment comes after just one win in the URC last season.

READ MORE: Sunday Social: Goodbye to a veteran, a record beckons and great tries

Bulls Evan Roos

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