Who’s hot and who’s not!

David Skippers

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!

Cheslin Kolbe: After coming to the fore with an excellent all-round showing in a losing cause for the Springboks in their Rugby World Cup opener against the All Blacks, the diminutive winger followed that up with another brilliant display in his side’s one-sided win over Italy. Kolbe proved a real handful to the Azzurri defence, gaining 94 metres from eight runs with three clean breaks, four defenders beaten and was rewarded with a brace of tries for his efforts. The 25-year-old was named the official player of the match after the game – the second time he has received that award after also walking off with the gong against New Zealand. Further positive news for the 2019 tournament is that his injury isn’t serious, as confirmed by the Springboks on Saturday evening.

Semi Radradra: Another winger in a rich vein of form, the rugby league convert delivered a brilliant performance in Fiji’s 45-10 victory against Georgia in Higashiosaka. The 27-year-old had shown patches of brilliance in the Pacific Islanders’ previous matches – against Australia and Uruguay – but hit his straps against the Lelos as he scored a brace of tries and also finished with assists for three other five-pointers. Radradra eventually picked up 176 metres from 16 runs and made six clean breaks, beat 11 defenders as well as two offloads. How Fiji need a repeat of this performance when they face Wales in a must-win fixture in Oita this Wednesday.

Japan: The Rugby World Cup hosts continued their fairy tale run at the global showpiece when they claimed a 38-19 bonus-point win against Samoa on Sunday. The Brave Blossoms were full value for their win as they delivered a superb all-round performance and the result puts them in pole position in Pool A, and on course to qualify for the quarter-finals for the first time in their history. Japan’s superb form means they are one of the few unbeaten teams left in the competition, along with New Zealand, Wales, England and France.

Cheetahs: The Bloemfontein-based outfit’s excellent start to the season continued over the weekend as they put in another superb showing in their 63-26 home triumph over Ulster. The electric Anthony Volmink led the way with a hat-trick of tries as the Cheetahs crossed the whitewash on eight occasions, with this result meaning they are sitting pretty atop of the PRO14 Conference A table with two wins from as many matches. Next up, Munster.

England and France: These sides became the first two countries to qualify for the World Cup quarter-finals after notching victories over Argentina and Tonga respectively at the weekend. Although they weren’t outstanding, England produced an efficient display and ran in six tries en route to a one-sided 39-10 triumph over Argentina in Tokyo to reach the play-offs while France, despite struggling at times against Tonga, got the job done with a hard-fought 23-21 win in Kumamoto. The Red Rose and Les Bleus face off in Yokohama this Saturday to determine who will finish at the top of Pool C. They can be pleased with their efforts in Japan thus far.

COLD AS ICE!

Andrea Lovotti and Nicola Quaglio: The Italian prop duo suffered a collective brain fade when they upended South Africa number eight Duane Vermeulen and dropped him on his head during the Boks’ 49-3 triumph in their Pool B encounter in Shizuoka. The incident caused a huge outcry as it was arguably the worst offence at the World Cup and resulted in Lovotti being red carded. Quaglio can consider himself lucky that he escaped a sanction on the day as he was just as guilty as Lovotti and the duo have since been suspended for three games each.

Argentina and Tomas Lavanini: Following France’s victory over Tonga, Los Pumas‘ fate was confirmed as they will not make it past the pool stages for the first time since 2003. Beating an in-form England side was always going to be tough but Mario Ledesma’s men will rue their opening World Cup encounter, which saw them succumb to Les Bleus. Argentina were extremely poor in the first half of that match and they failed to really improve against the Red Rose. Lavanini’s red card for connecting with Owen Farrell’s head was obviously a huge factor in the defeat but, irrespective of that incident, they lacked intensity and energy on Saturday.

Samoa’s decision-making: Yes, one can admire their bravery and yes, they were still not mathematically out of the qualification running, but to choose to scrum on their own five-metre line in the final play was a strange decision from the Samoans. Scotland fans would have been yelling at their television sets as Japan duly retrieved possession and scored what could prove a key try bonus-point that has left the Scots nine points behind with two games – one being against Japan – remaining.

Glasgow and Ospreys: It’s always tough to gain a true grasp of these leagues until the international stars return, but it certainly hasn’t hampered the likes of Leinster and Scarlets, who secured comfortable victories over these two sides. The Swansea-based region, who were facing an Irish province that have probably been the hardest hit by the Rugby World Cup, were particularly abysmal as they succumbed 53-5 at the RDS in Dublin. Meanwhile, Glasgow, irrespective of their absentees, are not displaying the qualities which took them to the PRO14 final last season and were very poor in the opening 60 minutes of their game against the Scarlets on Friday.