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!

Rieko Ioane: After a slow start to the season – by his standards – the All Blacks flyer was back with a bang in his side’s maiden win of the 2019 campaign when he crossed for all four his side’s tries in their victory over the Sunwolves in Albany. The 21-year-old was a constant threat on attack and crossed for a brace either side of half-time. His feat means he moves into joint third-place in the competition’s try-scoring charts this season.

Manu Tuilagi and Joe Cokanasiga: Some performance by England’s Pacific Island-born duo, who tormented the Italians throughout. In his first Six Nations start, Cokanasiga was particularly excellent after regularly breaking through the visitors’ attempted tackles. At over 17st, of course the wing’s pace and power was on show, but his footwork and skill level was also excellent, which suggests he has much more to his game. Tuilagi also starred, touching down twice and looking back to his best in what has been a positive campaign for the Leicester player, who has endured a torrid few years with injury.

South Africa Sevens: The 2017/18 World Rugby Sevens Series champions have found the going tough in the 2018/19 series but they were back to their best at the weekend and were deserved winners of their first-ever Vancouver Sevens title. The Blitzboks were superb throughout the tournament and secured a 21-12 win over France in the Cup Final, after winning all their previous matches as well. Their tournament success moves South Africa into fourth spot in the series standings, 24 points adrift of table-toppers the USA, who lost to France in the semi-finals in Vancouver. A mention too must go to Spain, who beat New Zealand in the pool stage.

Newcastle and Bristol: There were three tight Premiership matches on Saturday as Exeter Chiefs, Newcastle Falcons and Bristol Bears came out on top by margins of three points or fewer. For Newcastle this was back-to-back triumphs in the league as their survival bid took another step in the right direction – they are now just three points behind Worcester – while for Bristol they kept some breathing distance between themselves and the drop after winning at Northampton Saints. Both teams will be delighted with their weekend efforts with Leicester now sucked into a relegation dog fight, sitting nine points off bottom spot. Pencil April 12 in the diary when the Falcons host the Tigers.

Wales‘ second half resilience: After establishing a 15-6 buffer it was then a case of needing to batten down the hatches for Warren Gatland’s outfit at Murrayfield. Scotland threw the kitchen sink at them in the second period and it was a measure of the team Wales have become that they stood firm and came out with the victory. This was their 13th straight international triumph and it’s thanks to their rugged and well organised defence that they prevailed on Saturday. What a purple patch this maturing team is currently enjoying.

BROKEN THERMOSTAT

Nations Championship: Whisper it quietly but this doesn’t sound like a terrible idea. With promotion and relegation set to be included, the fact that it could potentially give tier-two nations regular encounters against the likes of New Zealand, South Africa, England and Ireland etc. is a huge positive and will benefit the sport. The number of games played will also remain similar to the current structure, with the finalists playing a most of 13 matches. However, the main concern perhaps comes with the broadcast rights and how they are ordered, particularly in Britain and Ireland. It would be a huge mistake to put it solely on pay TV with international rugby still a huge draw.

COLD AS ICE!

Italy: They have been competitive over the past two rounds, putting in reasonable displays against Wales and Ireland, but they were abysmal against England. While they showed continuity with ball in hand and scored a couple of well-worked tries, the Azzurri were weak defensively at Twickenham. The Red Rose weren’t even anywhere near their best but the hosts consistently opened up the visiting rearguard, touching down eight times in total. That needs to be sorted if they aren’t to end another campaign winless. In fact, the last time they won a game in the competition was in 2015, which is simply appalling.

Reds: Although they were competitive for long periods in their derby against the Waratahs, Brad Thorn’s troops could not register their first victory of the 2019 Super Rugby season and they have now lost their three opening fixtures – after losses to the Highlanders and Crusaders in their other games. What made matters worse, in the defeat to the Waratahs, is that the Brisbane-based outfit have now lost their 10th successive match against the Sydneysiders.

Michael Rhodes: The Saracens man may well be in trouble with the citing commissioner after this shocking shoulder charge at a breakdown during their defeat to Bath. It is a mystery how Rhodes escaped sanction during the game after connecting with the head of the hosts’ back-row Levi Douglas, but the flanker somehow did. Surely the South African will receive a ban, otherwise it makes a mockery of the sport’s attempt to clamp down on such reckless actions.

https://twitter.com/RugbyInsideLine/status/1104114147271344128

Judicial inconsistencies: On the subject of Rhodes, it is rather frustrating how he escapes punishment during the Bath v Saracens encounter, yet Leicester’s Sione Kalamafoni is red carded for a similar offence in the Tigers’ defeat to Sale Sharks. By the letter of the law, Matthew Carley correctly followed the guidelines and justifiably sent the number eight off, but the same can’t be said of the game at the Rec. Added to Nigel Owens’ failure to sufficiently deal with the Ox Nche late hit and you wonder why the officials aren’t correctly adhering to the process laid out by World Rugby. Some things will be missed and that is what the citing system is for but these are obvious mistakes which are in full view of those watching.

Biting ban: Australia women’s captain Liz Patu was handed a six-week ban after admitting to biting an opponent on the arm during a game in the Super W competition. The bitten player, Rebecca Clough, informed the referee and pointed to a bite mark on her arm, with a subsequent judicial panel allowing Patu the full 50 percent dispensation of the 12-week ban allowed under World Rugby rules, citing mitigating factors including her previous good character and clean disciplinary record. Patu apologised for her disappointing act and now spends six weeks out.

France: Another abysmal away performance from Jacques Brunel’s men, who were completely outplayed by Ireland on Sunday. Akin to the England game, they lacked direction, conviction and no player seemed to want to take responsibility. Everything appears to be wrong, from the quality of coaching to the mental approach of several of the players and they are not making any progress as a result. They were good against Scotland but this was just another two steps backwards by Les Bleus, whose supporters will be concerned when the French face Italy.

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