Who’s hot and who’s not!

Adam Kyriacou
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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!

Ireland: It was a gripping contest in Dublin with Ireland coming out on top as the world’s number one and two ranked teams met. To keep the All Blacks try-less takes some doing – the last time that happened was the 2017 British & Irish Lions tour – but Ireland defended for their lives and got the job done on Saturday. Their back-row in particular was superb but the whole team stood up in a performance that will give them massive confidence ahead of next year’s Rugby World Cup. They have the players, coaches and mindset to be genuine challengers in Japan.

Gloucester and Danny Cipriani: The weekend’s action kicked off on Friday and the game at Kingsholm saw an international outcast once again steal the show. Cipriani was magic for Gloucester with ball in hand as he timed passes to perfection and had Leicester Tigers mystified by what he might do next. Gloucester too looked an impressive side and could well be dark horses for the title. Johan Ackermann is starting to see the rewards from his hard work as they boast a good mix of imports and young English talent, with two-try Ollie Thorley also excellent.

Taqele Naiyaravoro: Speaking of wings, it was a superb barnstorming performance from Northampton‘s new signing in their victory over Wasps. He scored one try, set up another, made 17 carries for a whopping 183 metres that included seven clean breaks and 12 defenders being beaten. When the former Waratahs wing is on song there’s few who can live with him so if Saints can keep him fit and hungry, they have some weapon.

Wales: That’s win number eight in a row from Warren Gatland’s men as they once again showed they are heading in the right direction. While last week was a performance built on stingy defence as they pipped Australia 9-6, on Saturday they tore Tonga to pieces in the second-half as they ran in seven of their ten tries on the day. The bench turned the screw as Aled Davies, Cory Hill and Rhys Patchell all crossed for their country, with Patchell continuing to push for their fly-half jersey. Wales impressively now have three top class 10s to choose from.

BROKEN THERMOSTAT

Japan: While they ultimately came away from Twickenham with a defeat, the Brave Blossoms won yet more admirers after their performance. It was a high quality showing in that first-half as England struggled to live with their ability to keep the ball alive, Japan going in 15-10 ahead. Michael Leitch was everywhere and if head coach Jamie Joseph can keep them on an upward curve, RWC knockout rugby isn’t out of the question.

COLD AS ICE!

Gareth Thomas attack: What an upsetting video from the former Wales international on Sunday as he said he was the victim of an attack in Cardiff on Saturday evening. Thomas, 44, who came out as gay in 2009, was allegedly attacked by a 16-year-old in the city but the former Lion revealed he wanted restorative justice for the youngster. Thomas to his credit hoped his video would be a positive from the incident.

Newcastle and Leicester: After their impressive 2017/18 campaign, it’s surprising to see the Falcons sitting bottom of the standings in the Premiership after seven matches. Their 20-7 defeat to Harlequins at the Stoop was their sixth defeat thus far and leaves them three points off Sale Sharks with improvements needed or else they’ll be in a relegation battle. Leicester meanwhile were distinctly second best against Gloucester on Friday and looked off the pace against the slick Cherry and Whites. Yes they are missing players but that was a poor showing.

Samoa: A 27-19 defeat to Georgia was Samoa’s 11th loss in 13 games and what will make this defeat sting the most for the islanders is they led 19-10 at half-time before shipping 17 unanswered points in the second period. They boasted a line-up that included Ahsee Tuala, Alapati Leiua, Rey Lee-Lo, Tusi Pisi, Logovi’i Mulipola, Motu Matu’u, Jack Lam and other household names but still came up second best in Tbilisi.

Siya Kolisi’s headbutt going unpunished: The Bok skipper appeared to headbutt Peter Horne, while being held on the ground by the Scotland centre in the 30th minute. World Rugby have decided not to cite Kolisi and it definitely looks like the flanker has gotten away with one here. A similar thing happened in the aftermath of the England-Springboks clash a fortnight ago when Owen Farrell escaped punishment for a shoulder charge on Andre Esterhuizen. The Boks were incensed at the time and now the Scots may too have reason to feel aggrieved.

Who's hot and who's not