Who’s hot and who’s not: Steve Borthwick’s ‘major win’, Marlie Packer’s ‘renaissance’ and Iain Henderson’s ‘dastardly thing’
England boss Steve Borthwick and, right, Ulster skipper Iain Henderson
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!
Steve Borthwick: The longer the RFU silence, the more the odds grew that the beleaguered England coach would receive the vote of confidence to carry on in his job. It took 52 days between England’s fourth and final loss in their worst-ever Six Nations to get to last Tuesday’s announcement which, as per usual when it comes to English rugby and its lack of proper discourse, was short of the sort of detail to convince the fans that backing their man is the right course of action.
If England were going to jettison Borthwick – as they should have done, given this was the year they were supposed to challenge for the title and not the wooden spoon – the parting should have come in the week after the mid-March loss to the French. Instead, the drawn-out review process left the coach dangling when he should have been steaming into the prep for the Nations Championship opener away to South Africa on July 4. In the end, it was finally made public that he would be reprieved and keep his job. Regardless of the delay, that’s a major win for someone whose reputation is firmly in the mud and who certainly isn’t on fire in terms of results.
Exeter: We suggested in last Monday’s column that the Chiefs’ promising season of rejuvenation was running out of steam at just the wrong time. Two successive PREM Rugby losses were followed by semi-final elimination in the EPCR Challenge Cup; that’s plenty of evidence to suggest a team is on the slide, but it brilliantly turned out that Exeter weren’t. It was quite the rebound week in Devon, starting with the club’s shareholders agreeing on Thursday night to permit its sale to the American owners of Bournemouth, the Premier League football side.
That decision promises a bright future, but the here and now also got a timely bump. Turning around at the interval only 13-5 ahead against Bath, there were fears Rob Baxter’s side would get blown away against the wind. Instead, they rolled up their sleeves and produced a superb second half to win 35-12 and inflame hopes they will hold onto the PREM’s fourth and final play-off spot.
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Ulster’s South Africans: The Irish province has a long history of successful South African recruits. Johann Muller, Stefan Terblanche, Marcell Coetzee, Ruan Pienaar and Duane Vermeulen are just some of the stars who stitched their names into the club’s rich tapestry. Ulster weren’t as fortunate when bringing in Steven Kitshoff, who exited after just one season of a three-year deal. However, the South Africans who have since been recruited have provided incredible bang for buck.
Werner Kok arrived for the 2024/25 season and has proven to be a brilliant addition. A feisty, energetic operator, his hat-trick last Friday against the Stormers lit up Affidea Stadium, but the curiosity is that no contract extension has yet been agreed, which is strange for someone so productive. Then there is Juarno Augustus, who is just finishing the first season of his contracted three. He quit the PREM as playing in the URC would see him take on the South African franchises and his second successive player of the match award at the weekend did his chances of a Springbok call-up no harm at all.
Leicester: Mattioli Woods Welford Road was a riot of colour on Saturday with the Tigers igniting a riotous record 41-17 home PREM win over Northampton, their East Midlands rivals, who are leading the league. Save for the nonsense that was Joe Heyes foolishly sparking an all-in dust up and then Izaia Perese’s unfortunate late red card for a high tackle, this was a performance that oozed power, skill and class. It coincided with the fit-again George Martin revelling in his first start of the season and, of course, he was in the thick of it.
But it also showed Leicester were able to roll with the negatives. Losing the inspired Billy Searle to injury on the training ground was quite a blow but what a safety net James O’Connor proved to be, as the veteran Wallaby pulled the strings perfectly and marched his team around their gaff with a superiority that bodes well for the play-offs, especially if they can finish in the top two and secure a home semi. It’s a position they are now a point away from, and Bath versus Tigers in the final round on June 6 could be quite the fixture if the coming weeks work out well.
Women’s Six Nations: England and France demonstrated on Saturday that they are still by far the two most lethal teams in the tournament, and their unblemished records so far in 2026 nicely set up next weekend’s Super Sunday Grand Slam clash in Bordeaux. For John Mitchell’s English, it’s the sort of away-day assignment that keeps things interesting. Having won the World Cup last year in their backyard with something to spare, the procession of wins has kept on coming, but this upcoming trip to France is the sort of jeopardy that will keep them on their toes.
Their progress in recent weeks has included a renaissance for Marlie Packer, a player who was once front and centre of everything they achieved, only to slip down the selection pecking order at last year’s World Cup. The 36-year-old was tipped to retire after that tournament, but instead she is enjoying a fresh lease of life, scoring off the bench away to Scotland, adding two more with a start versus Wales and blowing Italy apart with last Saturday’s four-try effort in her 115th Test appearance. Her smile is back!
Connacht: It’s been quite the flourish for the Irish province in recent months. Their URC campaign with new boss Stuart Lancaster seemed set to crash on the rocks with their winter results. After a second January loss to Leinster, they had won just two of their nine league matches and were a million miles away from the play-offs. However, they have since won seven of their last eight and now go to Edinburgh on Friday night for the final round of matches, energetically galloping along in ninth place just one point outside the top eight.
That they have a chance of making the quarter-finals and also securing automatic qualification for next season’s Investec Champions Cup is quite the revitalised situation, and the matter of Saturday’s confident success over Munster has only added fuel to the feeling that Lancaster has finally found his feet and now has his team humming after months of struggle. Kudos to the coach for working through the adversity and coming out the other side. Kudos, too, to Jack Carty. The weekend match in Galway was his last home appearance before retirement. What a grand servant to Connacht he has been.
Cornish Pirates: It’s like the London buses in the south of England at the moment. No sooner does one long-awaited service finally turn up when a second follows close behind. The Exeter takeover by American investors had been signposted for some months now, but their shareholder vote on Thursday night rubberstamping this sale coincided with the news earlier that day that the second-tier Pirates had agreed to investment from a Pittsburgh-based investment firm.
Its backstory is intriguing. Apparently, an article on the English Championship published last December was picked up on by Kenn Moritz, and what he read became the catalyst for Stonewood Capital to step up and ensure the future of the Cornish club, which was looking for fresh money with the elderly Richard Evans stepping back from his period of excellent ownership. It sounds like a timely and brilliant deal.
A rugby first! CHAMP club secures ‘landmark investment’ from United States
Ealing Trailfinders: There will be no celebrations yet at Valis Way as there is still the Champ title to be won via the play-offs, but the Trailfinders deserve a pat on the back as last Saturday’s comprehensive 52-14 home win over Bedford meant they finished the regular-season part of their campaign with the super record of Played 26, Won 26. That’s consistency in every rugby person’s language and deserves recognition.
Amid speculation that they are in talks about potentially upping sticks and joining the URC, they have been a beacon of light in terms of not getting bored with winning and maintaining their focus as they chase a fourth Champ title in five years and their third in a row. Their 26 wins, which featured 23 four-try bonuses, generated a whopping total of 127 points, leaving them 30 points clear of second-place Bedford and 46 ahead of sixth-place Chinnor, who took the final play-off spot.
Hurricanes: Another team enjoying a great level of consistency is the New Zealand franchise that is chasing its first Super Rugby title since 2016. The weekend trip to Moana in Auckland could have been a fixture where they potentially took their eye off the ball against a bottom-of-the-table opposition that has forgotten how to win and is set to close down at the end of this season.
However, the Hurricanes were very much on task, running out 50-17 winners after a first half that ended with the lead at just 19-5. The Newcastle-bound Fehi Fineanganofo has been their star try-scorer this term, leading the competition chart with 15. While he drew a blank at the weekend, it didn’t faze the Wellington franchise in the slightest as fellow winger Josh Moorby came up with four tries to push his total for the campaign to a second-place 12. That’s what you call firepower.
La Rochelle: This has been the most difficult season for Ronan O’Gara in charge at the Top 14 club. Their era of winning back-to-back Champions Cup titles is very much now in the rearview mirror – they didn’t even qualify for this year’s round of 16, getting eliminated in the pool stages with a home loss to Harlequins. They were also way off the pace in the French league, but five wins in their last six matches have given them a lifeline.
Sunday night’s 26-24 win at seventh-place Racing was secured by a late Nolann Le Garrec penalty, securing O’Gara’s side a third win on the bounce to move them into eighth place on 58 points, six behind Bordeaux in the sixth and final play-off spot with three rounds of matches remaining. It’s an unexpected revival to keep an eye on in the coming weeks.
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COLD AS ICE!
Iain Henderson: The Ulster skipper grabbed the attention in recent weeks, revealing how Richie Murphy’s team had spoken about the club not winning a trophy in 20 years and how this famine was helping to inspire them in an end-of-season run-in where they have qualified for the Challenge Cup final in Bilbao and should make the URC quarter-finals as well. However, the veteran Irish international left himself down with the red-carded croc roll he did on Deon Fourie last Friday night.
Coming so late in the season, there can be no excuse for not getting tackle tech correct and the potential punishment is set to have the serious consequence of a suspension ruling him out from Ulster’s big night in Spain versus Montpellier. That would be a shame, but croc rolls are a dastardly thing of the past and escaping a ban is unlikely. A pity, too, is the confirmation that Stuart McCloskey is likely to miss the Challenge Cup final through injury. That’s a brutal development for a player who has been on fire all season for club and country.
John Dobson angered by Ireland forward’s croc roll on Deon Fourie which ‘no player could survive’
Henry Pollock and Evan Roos: What is it about jumped-up back-rowers who bark is bigger than their bite? Pollock’s antics when he was thrown into the East Midlands derby were comical. Someone really needs to take him aside and tell him in no uncertain terms that his histrionics belong in a circus clown suit, not on a rugby pitch. It’s a shame because when he puts his mind to the game, as seen in the consolation try-assist he gave to George Hendy, he is a very talented player.
It’s a similar message for Stormers No.8 Roos, who is struggling to fulfil his great potential. He came up with his team’s early try in Belfast on Friday night but went on to have an indisciplined performance that left the Cape Town franchise down. The type of penalties he gives away are very much in the needless and dumb category, the sort that makes him a risky Springboks pick. It’s a repeated weakness that takes away from the good rugby he is capable of producing.
Munster: While so many other clubs are enjoying late-season flourishes, the capacity of the Irish side to disappoint seemingly knows no bounds. When the likes of Jack Crowley and Tadhg Beirne are playing, they have a pair of star players capable of delivering something out of nothing to galvanise the team. Without them, though, they can be rudderless and so it proved again on the road where the defeat at Connacht was their seventh in eight away days in 2026. That is not what you call standing up and fighting, according to their terrace emblem.
Yes, they were hamstrung by the bemusing 20-minute red card shown to Diarmuid Barron for a croc roll that really wasn’t a croc roll, but that officiating aberration can’t be blamed for what generally was a shambolic team performance where much of the damage in the 26-7 loss was self-inflicted. It leaves them with plenty to do against the Lions in Limerick on Saturday to confirm a top-eight finish and Champions Cup qualification if Friday night’s results don’t go their way.
Clayton McMillan identifies root cause of Munster’s ‘high stakes’ Connacht defeat
Fake hookers: There have been grave warnings that the specialist position of hooker is under attack with the game’s law change in the lineout where crooked throws are deemed play on if the opposition team gets up in the air. Ex-Test referee Owen Doyle has been particularly vocal about this development. However, some of the matches at the weekend provided a timely reminder that accurate throwing is a skill to be treasured and not something to be taken lightly.
We had two examples in the Northampton game where back-rower Pollock threw into the set-piece with sub hooker Craig Wright on a yellow card. Both were botched, much to the jeers of the partisan Leicester crowd. And there was further evidence on Saturday night when Munster tried to wing it with Barron having been carded. Back-rower John Hodnett saw his misfire hand Connacht the possession they eventually turned into a try, and the follow-up throwing of loosehead Jeremy Loughman was also off kilter before hooker sub Lee Barron was finally brought on.
Saints: Phil Dowson would have breathed a huge sigh of relief at seeing Bath getting ambushed at Exeter on Sunday, 24 hours after Northampton were pulverised 41-17 at Leicester. It meant they held onto top spot in the PREM despite the record loss at Tigers, but defence coach Lee Radford has plenty to do to tighten things up if Saints want to lift the title at Allianz Stadium in June. The six tries at Welford Road brought the total of concessions to 28 in five matches, and that’s not the type of defending associated with title-winning sides.
Of course the Saints’ ebullient philosophy is that they feel capable of scoring more tries than they concede to every opposition, such is the attacking confidence they have, but they have really got to tighten things up as they are leaking like a sieve and on occasions like Saturday when they tries are hard to come by until they managed a couple of late consolations, the scoreline can spin out to the embarrassment that was 41-5.
Newcastle: Mention of defences, it’s not just Radford at Saints who is wincing as across the league there were 45 tries scored in the weekend’s five matches, an average of nine per game. High scores are one fan’s entertainment but another fan’s incredulous reaction to defences not washing their face. What to make them of Newcastle conceding 12 tries in their horrible 76-17 home loss to Harlequins?
It has always been said that the Red Bulls’ era will really only start at the club next season, as last August’s acquisition wasn’t enough of a runway for them to change the coaching and playing squad for the 2025/26 campaign. Next season promises much better with all their signings, but the end to this term can’t come quickly enough as there are only so many hammerings any side can take. Sunday’s 59-point margin followed the 33-point beating by Bristol and a 59-point deficit at Leicester. The rot has to stop.
Benetton: Newcastle aren’t the only European team trundling along as if they are already on the beach, as the Italian franchise have had their towels out for quite some time now. Yes, they managed to shock Leinster in the URC some weeks ago and they also ran Exeter close in a Challenge Cup quarter-final. But a club with so many Italian international players should consistently be doing much better and should be more competitive than a 46-7 hammering at the Sharks that is likely to be followed by another big defeat at the Bulls next Saturday.
The league table doesn’t lie, and six wins from 17 matches is not good enough for what essentially is a Test team line-up. They finished seventh in 2024 with 11 wins, dropping to 10th last season with nine. Now they are down in 13th, and the reboot under incoming new boss Wayne Pivac is badly needed to get the best out of an underperforming squad.