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!

Munster: Johann van Graan’s team had a surprisingly slow start to the season but, as soon as the Champions Cup came around, they found the right gear. They were impressive against Exeter Chiefs in Round One and have built since then, despite going down to a self-inflicted 13-12 loss to Castres before Christmas. That was a blip in what has been a good few months for the Limerick outfit and it culminated in a superb performance at Gloucester on Friday. They controlled the game, with Conor Murray and Joey Carbery dictating proceedings from half-back, and deservedly claimed a bonus-point win. Tadhg Beirne and Andrew Conway also caught the eye but it was a collective performance from the squad.

Richard Cockerill: Has done an outstanding job at Edinburgh, with his side on the brink of qualifying for the Champions Cup quarter-finals following their superb victory over Toulon. The French side may be in awful form but it is still difficult to win at the Stade Mayol and the Scottish outfit were once again excellent. As well as playing some wonderful rugby, Cockerill has given them a hard-nosed edge and a victory at Murrayfield against Montpellier in the Round 6 should give them a home quarter-final, which would be a remarkable achievement.

Jack Nowell and Henry Slade: What a return to first-team action from England international Nowell as he put in an outstanding 55 minutes at Sandy Park against Castres. Right from the first whistle he grabbed his shot at full-back with both hands, causing numerous problems to the visiting defence, with his try in the first-half something special. Rob Baxter and Eddie Jones would have been licking their lips at this showing, as they will over Slade’s, who was powerful, elusive, intelligent and direct at outside centre, combining well with Ollie Devoto.

Clermont v Northampton: It was an incredible match at Stade Marcel-Michelin on Saturday with 88 points scored in Clermont’s 48-40 victory. The French giants are enjoying an outstanding season both domestically and in Europe and this was their fifth straight win in the Challenge Cup. Sitaleki Timani, Peceli Yato, Peter Betham (2), Wesley Fofana and Remy Grosso scored for the hosts, but credit to the Saints as Fraser Dingwall, Alex Mitchell, Teimana Harrison (3) and that man Cobus Reinach crossed in reply. It was a truly captivating clash to end Saturday.

Leinster: Despite having seasoned campaigners like Jonathan Sexton, Rob Kearney, Dan Leavy, Sean O’Brien and Devin Toner on the sidelines, the Irish province delivered a superb performance in their 29-13 Champions Cup triumph against Toulouse at the RDS Arena. It was a case of sweet revenge for the defending champions after their loss to Le Rouge et Noir in the corresponding fixture in Toulouse last October. The result moves Leinster to the summit of Pool One, three points ahead of their Top 14 rivals, and Leo Cullen’s side will fancy their chances of finishing the groups on a high when they face bottom-placed Wasps at the Ricoh Arena on Sunday. Two titles in a row is definitely on.

COLD AS ICE!

Gloucester: What has gone wrong in the West Country? While Munster were magnificent, the Cherry and Whites were abysmal and barely fired a shot. It was their third consecutive heavy defeat and, although injuries have not helped, the problems seem to run deeper than that. Johan Ackermann has proven himself to be an excellent coach and he likes his teams to attack from all areas, but there appears to be a lack of confidence in what they are trying to do. They struggled defensively, lacked intensity for the final 50 minutes and, despite scoring two tries, failed to truly break through the visitors’ rearguard. They will be determined to end their pool campaign with a victory at Castres.

Newcastle Falcons: Bottom of the Premiership standings and now their slim hopes of Champions Cup knockout qualification are over, and how. It was a good old fashioned hiding for Dean Richards’ men at Montpellier as the French side ran in seven tries in a dominant performance. The Falcons fell off far too many tackles at GGL Stadium as a fired-up Montpol sensed blood and punished a weak defence. This Friday they host fellow pool strugglers Toulon in what is an ideal fixture for Newcastle to salvage some confidence to take back into the Premiership.

Burger flip: We also saw this when it happened and couldn’t believe that referee Andrew Brace or any of his assistants or television match official didn’t want a second look. Saracens flanker Schalk Burger clearly lifted Lyon number eight Deon Fourie – his former team-mate at the Stormers – above the horizontal and brought him down on his head/neck. The act will hopefully be highlighted by the citing officers as there’s no place for clearouts like this. What further stings for Lyon is that Nick Tompkins crossed soon after this disappointing moment.

Alleged Simon Zebo abuse: “I hope my ears deceived me with some comments directed my way from the crowd. #NotOn Django wins in the end.” That was the tweet posted by Racing 92 wing Zebo as he alleged he received unacceptable comments from some fans at Kingspan Stadium on Saturday. Champions Cup organisers EPCR are in contact with both Racing and Ulster but there has not yet been an official complaint made. Former Munster favourite Zebo crossed for a try in the defeat and was booed during the game due to his behaviour in the reverse fixture.

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