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 begin in Europe, where the Champions and Challenge Cup has come off second best to Covid-19 as several fixtures have been postponed due to the pandemic.
In summary…#ChampionsCup#ChallengeCup pic.twitter.com/tizVP9ASg4
— BallCarrier (@BallCarrier_) December 17, 2021
According to the BallCarrier guys, the news of the postponed matches was well received at Bath.
Silver linings for some pic.twitter.com/mJsNGwZVhe
— BallCarrier (@BallCarrier_) December 17, 2021
At Scotstoun, there was an interesting direct battle between Scotland internationals Richie Gray and his younger brother, Jonny, who faced off in Glasgow Warriors’ clash with Exeter Chiefs.
Gray v Gray 😤 pic.twitter.com/DqdzNHQAsX
— Glasgow Warriors (@GlasgowWarriors) December 18, 2021
The big talking point in that encounter was the fog which made visibility very difficult for the spectators.
Highlight of Glasgow – Exeter so far #GLAvEXE pic.twitter.com/a8diZU9djH
— BallCarrier (@BallCarrier_) December 18, 2021
The fog made things tough for both teams but the players soldiered on despite the difficult conditions.
𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙜 𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙤𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙩 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙖 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩.#HeinekenChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/29F6S75uEz
— Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) December 18, 2021
Elsewhere, Cardiff back Dan Fish, who announced his retirement in October, continues to shine after answering an SOS from his club’s senior team when several of their players were sidelined due to Covid-19 issues.
Let's get Dan Fish to number one! 😂
Dan Fish
Dan Fish
Dan Fish https://t.co/mnIUtammsS— Cardiff Rugby (@Cardiff_Rugby) December 18, 2021
In Ireland, the opening round’s action proved memorable for Munster Academy scrum-half Ethan Coughlan who lined up with two of his heroes Peter O’Mahony and Conor Murray after several senior players were forced to withdraw due to Covid. After their win over Wasps, the trio replicated a photo taken several years earlier.
📸 From supporter to team-mate 🙌🙌🙌
Brilliant pics from Academy scrum-half Ethan Coughlan, who made his Munster debut in the @ChampionsCup yesterday 👏👏👏#MunsterStartsHere#WASvMUN #SUAF 🔴 pic.twitter.com/JPAR4Pulfr
— Munster Rugby (@Munsterrugby) December 13, 2021
Meanwhile, with it being Christmas season, the World Rugby guys came up with the Barrett on a carrot pic to get us all into the festive spirit.
You've heard of Elf on the shelf, now get ready for…
☃️ @beaudenbarrett pic.twitter.com/NpS7isXfYo
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) December 17, 2021
While in the USA, this Santa is using his rugby training skills to keep him busy.
Santa staying ready for the upcoming @usmlr season @RhinoRugbyUSA pic.twitter.com/00dpuxlguD
— Barstool Rugby (@barstool_rugby) December 15, 2021
Staying with the training theme, in England, former international front-row Andrew Sheridan might be retired but he showed that he is still as strong as ever.
Mixing training up a bit at the moment with some sandbag ‘shouldering’- pretty awkward exercise- taxes the breathing a bit too 👍🏼Having a bit of a struggle with the 145kg (320lb) bag 😂 pic.twitter.com/ODCsH3vzmu
— Andrew Sheridan (@aj_sheridan) December 14, 2021
In South Africa, Wallabies centre Ben Tapuai is settling in nicely at the Sharks where Werner Kok has been teaching him some Afrikaans words.
We gave Ben Tapuai a crash course in South African lingo 🇿🇦 😂#OurSharksForever pic.twitter.com/k3PAPU604z
— The Sharks (@SharksRugby) December 17, 2021
While the Springboks’ director of rugby, Rassie Erasmus, has released a series of videos to show the world what he is up to while serving his 60-day suspension.
Okay,but I will probably delete if I get to much "bite" from South Africans!
After all it's for them who we working and playing 🇿🇦 https://t.co/e780si5w4E pic.twitter.com/tehF9rG4fp— Rassie Erasmus (@RassieRugby) December 16, 2021
We finish off in New Zealand where the All Blacks released this hilarious behind the scenes video. Not the smoothest start from Sam Cane here.
A little bit of everything in this video.
Behind the Scenes in 2021. Enjoy 🤙🏾 pic.twitter.com/suJmH7zETI
— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) December 16, 2021
