Sunday Social: Horse riding, tributes and a shout-out

Colin Newboult

It is time for Planet Rugby’s Sunday Social, your quirky recap of the serious and not so serious talking points from the past week’s action.

We kick off in New Zealand where All Blacks legend Ma’a Nonu celebrated a rare win for his new team, Ngati Porou East Coast – who ended a 54-game losing streak by beating Buller in the Heartland Championship – on the back of a horse after the game in Ruatoria.

Meanwhile, we salute Ireland and Munster outside back Keith Earls, who showed incredible strength and courage when he opened up on his mental health battle.

Staying on the Emerald Isle, where Irish Rugby remembered Munster and Ireland great Anthony Foley on the five-year anniversary of his passing.

There was a nice touch from Connacht as well when they also paid tribute to Foley ahead of their United Rugby Championship derby against Munster on Saturday.

Heading over to the Premiership, where Leicester Tigers captain Ellis Genge reckons the team’s excellent form is even making fellow prop Dan Cole happy.

Staying with the front-row theme and these youngsters deserve plenty of credit for coming up with this innovative way of practising their scrummaging.

Elsewhere, there was a special tribute in Christchurch for Hawke’s Bay hooker Ash Dixon, who received a goodbye Haka from his team-mates after their triumph against Canterbury.

Meanwhile, based on the evidence in this video, All Blacks full-back Jordie Barrett needs to work very hard at improving his golf skills.

There was plenty of positive reaction to World Rugby’s recent decision to allow players to wear tights or leggings at all levels of the game and the BallCarrier guys reminded us that it’s nothing new to the sport.

Although it’s highly unlikely that rugby’s referees will revert to their former attire.

And finally, there was a special shout-out and request for Squidge Rugby from Chilean hooker Raimundo Martinez following his team’s shock victory over Canada in their recent Rugby World Cup 2023 qualifier.