Who’s hot and who’s not!

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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!

Louis Rees-Zammit: The teenager played with a maturity beyond his years during Gloucester’s 36-3 bonus-point victory over Worcester Warriors at Kingsholm on Friday. The Wales U18 international kept the Warriors defenders on their toes throughout and set up a try for Chris Harris before being rewarded with two five-pointers during the latter stages of the game. Rees-Zammit eventually gained a match-high 98 metres on attack from eight runs which included five clean breaks, two defenders beaten and an offload, as his stock continues its rapid rise.

https://twitter.com/premrugby/status/1208322562150862849

Saracens: They continue to chip away at those negative points situated next to their name in the Premiership standings and it was Bristol Bears next to be brushed aside as Saracens cruised to a 47-13 victory at Allianz Park. That’s now five wins out of six in the league this season and if they continue like this surely top flight safety will be secured with time to spare? Saturday’s win saw Ben Earl and Max Malins shine which proves it’s not just the club’s big names who are top players, with Malins likened to Beauden Barrett by his director of rugby in the post-match.

Akker van der Merwe: Has enjoyed an outstanding start to his Sale career after joining from Super Rugby side the Sharks and touched down for the seventh time this season in their victory over Northampton Saints. In a side that has struggled to truly fire, the South African has been their star performer and once again displayed his power and athleticism on Saturday. Van der Merwe consistently made it over the gain line, making 41 metres in total, and provided front foot ball for the Greater Manchester outfit.

Sam Davies and the Dragons: The Newport-based outfit are improving under Dean Ryan and that was shown with their performance against the Scarlets. Versus a team that have started the season well, Ryan’s men were competitive throughout and went into the latter stages just one point in arrears. Step up Davies who, with the clock in the red, superbly landed a drop-goal to dramatically snatch the win and continue their good recent form, which has also put them in Challenge Cup contention.

Stormers retention: We must admit that it was a fresh change to see some good news coming out of Super Rugby in terms of contracts. Players leaving the competition for the lure of Japan or Europe has become an all too frequent occurrence so, when the Stormers announced that eight of their Springboks had re-signed with the franchise, it was excellent to see. Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Steven Kitshoff, Bongi Mbonambi, Scarra Ntubeni, Dillyn Leyds, Frans Malherbe and Damian Willemse have all recommitted until 2021, which is some achievement by the team.

COLD AS ICE!

Wasps: It might not have been the standout fixture of the Premiership round but there was plenty riding on their clash at the Ricoh Arena. Both sides desperately needed a victory so for Wasps to blow a 17-0 lead against Harlequins after 20 minutes and subsequently go down to a 28-22 loss stings considerably. This reversal is their fifth out of six games so far in the league and leaves them in 10th spot, just 19 points ahead of a Saracens side that is breathing down their neck.

Ireland omissions: It almost marks an end of an era after full-back Rob Kearney was omitted from Andy Farrell’s 45-man squad for an upcoming ‘stocktake.’ The Leinster player has won 98 caps in all, which includes three for the Lions, and has been a stalwart in the green shirt for the past decade. However, the rise of Will Addison, Mike Haley and provincial team-mate Jordan Larmour has seen the new head coach go for younger options. Also not included are Sean Cronin, Jordi Murphy and Jack Carty, who evidently need to do more to impress Farrell.

Rob Howley: The WRU announced earlier in the week that the former Welsh coach has been banned for 18 months, nine of which are suspended, for betting breaches. A couple of those involved putting money on matches involving Wales, while bets were placed on more than 1,000 games over four years. Howley apparently lost £4,000 from those activities, which meant there was no malicious intent. Instead, the sad death of his sister Karen was identified as a trigger for the addiction and we therefore wish him well as he battles his demons.

Zebre and Ospreys:  These two reside at the bottom of Conference A after disappointing derby defeats to Benetton and Cardiff Blues respectively. Both have only won one match apiece in the PRO14 this season and, even at this stage, are pretty much out of play-off contention. It is a particularly sharp decline for the Welsh region, who were once the shining light in Wales, but have run into significant problems on and off the field over recent times.

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Ben Smith: Not the most auspicious of starts at Pau for the former New Zealand international after being sent-off against Stade Francais on his Top 14 debut. Smith received his marching orders after leading with his forearm into the neck of an opponent. It left his side with 14 men for the final half-hour and, although they battled, Pau succumbed 21-18 to the bottom placed team.

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