Sunday Social: World Cup heroes, regrets and sledges

Adam Kyriacou

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.

Obviously we begin with that outstanding performance from England against New Zealand. So many players were excellent in white but the player of the match award went to Maro Itoje. Here he is in fitting attire.

Ouch. One imagines this New Zealand supporter might be sore for a couple of reasons in the coming days. Not his smartest move.

It didn’t take long for the sledging to arrive on social media and it was fitting that cricket page @TheBarmyArmy got things moving.

One hopes New Zealand cricketer Jimmy Neesham got his new mute settings activated before the chirps and tweets were posted.

In the other semi-final, this rather summed up the aerial bombardment as Wales and South Africa went head-to-head.

Meanwhile, some fans were doing everything in their power to help Wales to victory.

However, it did not work as Handre Pollard was the hero for the Springboks, kicking 14 points in the 19-16 triumph.

In Japan, commentator Andrew Cotter reveals what life after a rugby broadcast looks like. Hard to work out what is happening here.

Before Saturday’s game in Yokohama, Rugby World Cup’s official Twitter page went down the Anchorman route to build the tension.

Away from the international game and this was a lovely video of Harlequins stalwart Mike Brown being honoured with a bar at the club. As you can see it meant the world to both Brown and his watching parents.

Elsewhere, Bristol Bears back-row Steven Luatua could not resist throwing in a nutmegs in their Premiership game against Harlequins.

We’ve witnessed over the years the evolution of players adding more skills to their arsenal. But this is taking things to new level.

England