Who’s hot and who’s not!

David Skippers
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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 over the past week.

THEY’RE ON FIRE!

Beauden Barrett: A masterclass from the best player in the world after scoring four tries in the All Blacks’ 40-12 demolition of the Wallabies at Eden Park. There had been talk of Richie Mo’unga replacing him at fly-half but Barrett has answered those critics with a couple of outstanding displays. It was not just his running game which was outstanding but the pivot’s ability to control the game has been superb over the past couple of weeks. With his accuracy off the tee also impressive, it appears as though both Mo’unga and Damian McKenzie will have to wait for their opportunity to start.

Wayne Barnes: Probably the best referee in the world at the moment after putting in another fine display during the New Zealand v Australia Rugby Championship clash. Barnes is not overly fussy, letting the game flow as a result, but is consistent in his interpretations, particularly at the breakdown. The Englishman is also one of the best communicators out there and can defuse most situations, so it was no surprise that there was little backchat and, when either captain had a query, he was both empathetic and assured.

Owen Franks: Congratulations to the tighthead who earned his 100th cap in the victory over Australia. Franks became the ninth All Black to reach the milestone after making his debut in 2009 against Italy. The prop has been the cornerstone of the New Zealand pack for almost a decade and shows no signs of slowing up after impressing for both the Crusaders and the national team this season. Although he couldn’t quite exert his influence against the Wallabies on Saturday, the 30-year-old was outstanding the week before as the world champions dominated the scrum battle.

Finn Russell and Scott Spedding: The Scotland fly-half and France full-back made dream debuts in away wins for their new clubs – Racing 92 and Castres – during the opening round of the 2018/19 Top 14 season. Russell was in superb form for the Parisian outfit and contributed 20 points, courtesy of a brace of tries, two conversions and two penalties, in a 25-9 victory against Toulon at Stade Mayol. Meanwhile, Spedding was Castres’ hero as he made what proved to be the match-winning tackle on Montpellier‘s Vincent Martin, after scoring two tries earlier in the game which the champions won 25-20 at the Altrad Stadium.

Argentina and Nicolas Sanchez: Los Pumas‘ deserve plenty of praise after coming back from their defeat to the Springboks in their Rugby Championship opener to claim a richly deserved 32-19 triumph in their rematch in Mendoza at the weekend. The result is a momentous one for Argentina as it ended an 11-match losing streak in the competition which stretches back to a win against the same opposition in Salta two years ago. Although the entire team played their part in the win in Mendoza, fly-half Sanchez deserves special praise after a brilliant all-round effort as he contributed 17 points after scoring in every possible way via a try, a penalty, a drop-goal and three conversions.

Western Province: The Currie Cup champions made a statement of intent as they kicked off the defence of their title in style with an emphatic 32-0 victory over the Free State Cheetahs at Newlands. Preventing your opponents from troubling the scoreboard is always a great feat but what makes the men from the Cape’s achievement even better is that they did it in atrocious weather conditions with heavy rain pelting down for large periods. They also secured a try bonus-point in the process.

COLD AS ICE!

Chris Ashton: His participation in the November internationals has been thrown into huge doubt after receiving a seven-week ban by the RFU. The back three player joined Sale Sharks over the summer and was immediately named in the next England training camp, suggesting that Eddie Jones very much had him in his thoughts, but this may rule him out. The 31-year-old was handed a red card by referee Romain Poite for dropping Castres’ Rory Kockott on his head in an off-the-ball incident and has duly been suspended until early October. Ashton will miss the first block of Premiership games and may only have two Challenge Cup matches to impress ahead of the end-of-year series.

Sergio Parisse red card: This was incredibly harsh on the Italian stalwart as he was sent off while playing for Stade Francais on Saturday. Referee Laurent Cardona deemed the number eight to have led with his elbow when making contact with onrushing Perpignan flanker Alan Brazo. But replays clearly showed that both Brazo was in a poor position to make the tackle and Parisse had little option in raising his arm close to his body, as the vast majority of players would in the same situation for protection. Fortunately the decision did not affect the result.

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Defence in Johannesburg: 103 points were scored between the Golden Lions and Griquas on Friday and while many will scoff at criticism of a high-scoring game such as this, the defence from both sides left a lot to be desired. It was non-existent at times as 14 tries were scored in all – nine for the hosts and five for Griquas – as tackling became optional. Both teams will need to shore up this area moving forward.

Springboks: The two-time world champions had their tails up after beating Argentina in their opener and were favourites to repeat that result when the teams met in the corresponding fixture in Mendoza. But despite being in a confident mood as they headed into that encounter, things went pear-shaped for the Boks with los Pumas delivering an outstanding all-round performance. South Africa’s physicality laid the foundation to that win in Durban and they seemed surprised when Argentina stood up to them in that facet of play at the weekend. Bok coach Rassie Erasmus even said he was embarrassed by the result and he will have to find a quick solution to his side’s problems as they face even more daunting challenges against the Wallabies and All Blacks away from home in their next two matches.

Free State Cheetahs: After two rounds of matches, they are bringing up the rear in the Currie Cup with zero points in the standings after Saturday’s loss to Western Province and the Blue Bulls in their tournament opener. What makes things worse for the men from Bloemfontein is that the majority of their Currie Cup squad will now be playing in the PRO14 and their campaign kicks off when they take on Munster at Thomond Park on Saturday. That means that they will be fielding an under-strength team in the Currie Cup and don’t be surprised if their poor form continues in that tournament.

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