Who’s hot and who’s not!

Colin Newboult
Add as a preferred source on Google

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

New Zealand’s final 25 minutes: As ever, the All Blacks were at their best when it came to the latter stages of the encounter. Whether it’s fitness, decision-making or the mere fact they simply increase the intensity in the final quarter, Steve Hansen’s men have this ability to pull away from the opposition. Australia actually played pretty well on Saturday and were the dominant team for the first 10 minutes in the second period, but New Zealand, and particularly Beauden Barrett, showed their quality when they needed it.

Auckland: It has not been the greatest few years for rugby in New Zealand’s largest city, with their Super Rugby team regularly failing to live up to expectations, but perhaps this Mitre 10 Cup triumph can provide a catalyst for future success. They were excellent throughout the competition and duly won a dramatic contest against Canterbury. The game finished 26-26 after 80 minutes but two tries in extra time secured the title for Auckland as they came away with a 40-33 victory.

Sharks: Like Auckland, the Durban-based outfit won their domestic competition, impressively overcoming Western Province in the final. It was a superb display by the Sharks, who went to the home of the defending champions and emerged with a 17-12 victory. Interestingly, it was the opposite of last season, where Robert du Preez’s men had dominated the regular season, only to succumb in the showpiece event to the Cape Town side. No doubt revenge was particularly sweet for the visitors.

Munster’s late show: The game appeared to be decided after an hour at Thomond Park with Glasgow Warriors 24-10 ahead and with a try bonus-point secured, but the Irish province displayed plenty of spirit and quality to come back into the contest and snatch a dramatic win. Alex Wootton’s score gained the momentum before Alby Mathewson touched down to bring Johann van Graan’s men to within two points. However, the winning effort came in the final minute when, with the clock in the red, Rory Scannell kicked a long-range penalty to spark jubilation in the stands and on the pitch.

Antoine Dupont: The scrum-half, who had been out of action for a while through injury, has returned in excellent form if this hat-trick against Perpignan is anything to go by. Since coming back from that knee injury, Dupont has been tried in both half-back positions but was named at nine on Saturday and showed his quality, displaying excellent support lines and pace to touch down three times as Toulouse continued their impressive form. Following a successful start in the Champions Cup, Les Rouge et Noir are also going well in the Top 14, residing in third place in the table.

COLD AS ICE

EPCR judiciary: The authorities don’t do themselves any favours and the case involving England’s Alex Lozowski only served to invite further ridicule on the governing body and its processes. For those who didn’t know, the centre was suspended for an illegal clearout during Saracens’ game against Glasgow Warriors, where he was handed a two-week ban. Ordinarily, that would have made him available for the Red Rose’s game against South Africa, only for it to be extended and not count Sarries’ Premiership Rugby Cup encounter with Leicester due to his involvement with the national team. Lozowski appealed both the verdict and the decision not to include Saracens’ match in the suspension, which was accepted and duly overturned by an independent committee; making him immediately available. There was another twist, though, when the EPCR appealed the decision to dismiss another citing and it was agreed that it was made in error, so the back now faces another hearing. However, organisers were unable to say whether he is banned until the next hearing. It is an absolute farce.

Christian Wade’s rugby career: It’s a shame to see such a talent decide to ‘retire’ from the sport and try his hand in the NFL, but you can’t blame him. The rumour was that Wade had become disillusioned with rugby having constantly been overlooked for England by Eddie Jones, despite producing week-on-week for club side Wasps. The 27-year-old only garnered one cap, against Argentina in 2013, but will now try his hand across the Atlantic and we wish him well.

Southern Kings and Edinburgh: Glasgow are excused due to the fact that Thomond Park is a very difficult place to go, but the Kings and Edinburgh threw away winning positions to succumb to the Scarlets and Zebre respectively. The Scottish outfit in particular will be disappointed by their performance in the second period having controlled most of the first half, going 13-3 up, before being defeated 34-16. It was a similar story for the Kings, who were 34-22 ahead against a depleted Scarlets side at one stage, only to concede three quick fire tries and lose 41-34.

Cardiff Blues: Suffered the ignominy of becoming the Cheetahs’ first victim of the season in either the Currie Cup or PRO14 after going down 21-10 in Bloemfontein. The Blues had been in decent form, winning four matches in a row, including an impressive victory over Lyon in the Champions Cup, but they were poor against Glasgow Warriors last week. This will only add to their frustrations and means that they reside outside of the top three in Conference A, albeit just two points behind Munster.

Perpignan: Still winless in 10 games, the pressure is building on Christian Lanta. They have lost all eight matches in the Top 14 with their latest coming against Toulouse at the Stade Aime Giral. While fellow promoted side Grenoble continue to pick up results, the Catalans have been outclassed in a number of games this season. They couldn’t even build momentum in the Challenge Cup having succumbed to Sale and drawn against Bordeaux-Begles, which makes next week’s encounter with an equally forlorn Toulon a huge clash.

Features