Who’s hot and who’s not: Springboks smash record against ‘awful’ All Blacks while Conor Murray crosses a line
The Springboks were rampant against the All Blacks.
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!
Record-breaking Springboks: Rassie Erasmus’ troops came into Saturday’s Test against the All Blacks with their backs to the proverbial wall after losing two of their first three Rugby Championship Tests. Erasmus rang the changes to his starting XV – especially in the backline – and those alterations had the desired effect as the Springboks produced an outstanding attacking performance en route to a deserved 43-10 victory. The world champions had too much firepower for their arch rivals in Wellington as they took control of proceedings in the second half, and after trailing 10-7 at the break, they eventually outscored their hosts six tries to one. What a statement performance from this side.
Damian Willemse and Cheslin Kolbe: Although the entire Springboks team deserve credit for that emphatic triumph in Wellington, the aforementioned duo earn special praise as they led the world champions’ onslaught with excellent attacking performances. Willemse started at inside centre before being shifted to full-back late in the first half after Aphelele Fassi was forced off through injury. Despite his positional switch, Willemse was superb on attack, and his efforts were rewarded with a try and the official player-of-the-match award following the win. Kolbe was not far behind as he proved a real handful to the All Blacks’ defence, and he showed his class by crossing for two well-taken tries.
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Louis Rees-Zammit back in action: After failing in his quest to play in a competitive NFL fixture, the former Wales and British & Irish Lions flyer signed a deal with Bristol Bears last month and eventually made his club debut in their Premiership Rugby Cup clash with Sale Sharks at the Salford Community Stadium on Saturday. The visitors suffered a 24-15 defeat with Rees-Zammit making a 30-minute cameo off the bench to the delight of Bristol Bears’ director of rugby Pat Lam, who said: “He is happy, I’m happy, and we will move through to the next stage but that was a big confidence builder for him, just to get back in playing rugby union.” What a boost to have him back in our sport.
Santiago Carreras’ place-kicking: Argentina returned to the victory trail when they clinched a 28-26 triumph over Australia in Sydney, with Carreras leading the way courtesy of his excellent place-kicking. The hosts’ discipline let them down badly as they conceded penalties galore, and when it was within goal-kicking range the Bath-bound star sure made them pay. Carreras eventually slotted seven penalties as well as a conversion, which meant he finished the game with a superb 23-point contribution as Los Pumas got their campaign back on track.
Rugby World Cup semi-finalists: Huge congratulations to New Zealand, Canada, France and England for booking their passage into the Women’s Rugby World Cup semi-finals after claiming wins over South Africa, Australia, Ireland and Scotland, respectively. No disrespect to the beaten quarter-finalists, but many expect this quartet to be the last teams standing going into the semis. What a weekend we have in store.
USA book 2027 World Cup spot: In the Men’s game, USA secured qualification for Rugby World Cup 2027 after claiming a hard-fought 29-13 win over Samoa in the Pacific Nations Cup fifth-place play-off in Denver. Head coach Scott Lawrence was thrilled for his side to lift the qualified banner, while for Samoa they still have hope of making the tournament but must beat Chile over two legs over the coming weekends.
Ollie Lawrence back from injury: The England international’s hopes of being involved in this year’s British & Irish Lions tour were dealt a hammer blow when he suffered a horrific Achilles injury during a Six Nations Test against Italy at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham in March and it was initially feared that he would be out until December. However, the 25-year-old’s rehabilitation went better than expected and on Friday he came off the bench in Bath’s 28-28 pre-season draw away to Munster. The good news did not end there too as he was also included in England head coach Steve Borthwick’s 36-player squad ahead of a three-day training camp ahead of the upcoming Autumn Nations Series.
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COLD AS ICE!
Awful day for All Blacks: As good as the Springboks were in that one-sided victory in Wellington, the All Blacks were a pale shadow of the side which got the better of the same opposition at Eden Park in the corresponding fixture just seven days earlier. Scott Robertson’s team were their own worst enemies as they committed a plethora of unforced errors and came off second best in most facets of play against their old foes. The 43-10 result is the All Blacks’ heaviest Test defeat in their celebrated history, and the loss means they drop from first position to third in the Rugby Championship standings. They return to action on September 27 when they host the Wallabies at Eden Park and nothing less than a much-improved performance will be demanded by their fans. Understandably, the post-mortem to this defeat has not been pretty.
Wallabies’ ill discipline: Australia are currently setting the pace at the top of the Rugby Championship table despite suffering that narrow home defeat to Argentina on Saturday. However, their discipline let them down badly as they conceded a whopping 14 penalties, which was exactly double the amount given away by their opponents. Five Wallabies – Max Jorgensen, Corey Toole, Billy Pollard, Jeremy Williams and Fraser McReight – gave away two penalties each, and although they outscored Los Pumas four tries to one, their lack of discipline led to their demise and they’ll have to improve in that department if they want to win the Rugby Championship. They won’t get a better chance to do so.
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Conor Murray’s book criticism of Graham Rowntree: The Ireland legend has been largely slammed for his criticism of ex-Munster head coach Graham Rowntree in an extract from his new book. Murray, who was usurped for the starting scrum-half shirt by Craig Casey at Munster during Rowntree‘s tenure, revealed that he “didn’t rate Rowntree” and that he “didn’t see a lot of rugby knowledge there.” Murray’s criticism of Rowntree has brought a backlash from supporters on social media who hold the Englishman in high regard after he led Munster to United Rugby Championship glory in 2023. As one commenter wrote, “He’s absolutely entitled to that view in private, but that’s so poor.”
Biting incident at Women’s World Cup: The global showpiece in England was rocked by an allegation of biting made against France’s Axelle Berthoumieu with the alleged bite on Ireland’s Aoife Wafer being dismissed by match officials. The alleged incident took place during the teams’ quarter-final on Sunday and Ireland skipper Sam Monaghan revealed that she’d asked referee Aimee Barrett-Theron if they could have a look at the incident through the TMO after Wafer made the allegation. France eventually sealed an 18-13 win, but a potential red card for them at that stage of the game would have been huge, as it would’ve left Ireland defending their lead against a French team down a player.
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