Sunday Social: Scrums, comebacks and World Cup draw

Colin Newboult
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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.

Where else to begin but Munster’s staggering performance against Clermont Auvergne after they came from 28-9 down to defeat the Frenchmen 39-31. The battle between Rabah Slimani and Josh Wycherley summed up the encounter as the tighthead initially got the upper hand…

https://twitter.com/greub1/status/1340354689007796225

…Before Wycherley responded, dominating the contest for the final hour and allowing the Irish province to control matters up front.

https://twitter.com/threeredkings/status/1340431831980793856

There was also a very funny moment when Clermont’s Alivereti Raka did ‘a James Haskell’ by running into the post.

It was a day of comebacks as Edinburgh overcame Sale Sharks from 12-0 down and earlier Gloucester defeated Ulster late on. It was a much-needed win for the Cherry and Whites and they certainly enjoyed themselves following the match.

https://twitter.com/gloucesterrugby/status/1340354076559720452

On Friday, Wasps sealed a comfortable triumph over Montpellier, making it successive wins in the Champions Cup. Alfie Barbeary got most of the plaudits but Josh Bassett also impressed and Squidge made this very astute quip.

It has also been a good weekend for Zebre, who stunned Brive, and they made reference to one of Donald Trump’s many Twitter posts.

Elsewhere, the World Cup draw was made earlier in the week and Scotland fans were not happy with the outcome as they were put in the ‘Group of Death’ alongside South Africa and Ireland.

Meanwhile, all our thoughts this week were with Fiji as a powerful cyclone hit. We hope everyone stayed safe after it devastated parts of the country. There was one nice moment, however, as some Fijian players decided to get out on the field in obviously pretty awful conditions.

The tributes continued to pour in for Nigel Owens after he announced his retirement from international refereeing and Joe Marler, in his own inimitable fashion, did this for the Welshman.

On the subject of referees, Bulls captain Duane Vermeulen had this response for Marius van der Westhuizen.

Finally, the All Blacks put together this nice video celebrating the best of the off-field action in 2020.

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