Who’s hot and who’s not!

Colin Newboult

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!

Zebre: The Italians don’t win many but, when they do, it tends to be emphatic. After thrashing the Dragons 39-12 in November, the Parma-based outfit outplayed the Cheetahs on Saturday and secured a 41-13 triumph at the Sergio Lanfranchi. It was just Zebre’s second PRO14 victory of the season and lifted them five points clear of the Ospreys, who reside at the bottom of Conference A. Charlie Walker (twice), Johan Meyer, Joshua Renton and Giulio Bisegni all crossed the whitewash in the impressive victory.

Jake Polledri: Most of the talk before the West Country derby surrounded Bath’s all-international back-row, which included Francois Louw, Sam Underhill and Taulupe Faletau, but they were outshone by the Gloucester man. Particularly in the second half, Italian representative Polledri was at his rampaging best as the flanker powered through several would-be tacklers to get the Cherry and Whites on the front foot. The hosts duly claimed a bonus-point 29-15 victory to move back up to third position in the Premiership table.

Ulster and Leinster: Riding high in second and first spot in Conference A of the PRO14 after yet another victory was carded over the weekend. Once again John Cooney helped inspire Ulster to a 38-17 success over Munster while Leinster thumped Connacht 54-7 at the RDS to make it 10 wins out of 10 in the competition. Both these outfits have been playing outstanding rugby this season and Leinster especially have been doing so with a youthful team, which makes their run of results all the more impressive. Credit to both sides though as they continue to shine.

Saracens: After a narrow defeat at Exeter Chiefs, Saracens returned to winning ways in style with a 62-5 bonus-point victory over Worcester at Allianz Park. They are now down to -7 in the Premiership standings but are still 18 points behind the 11th place side in the table following Leicester Tigers’ triumph over Bristol Bears. Saracens led 31-0 at the break on Saturday and doubled that tally by full-time in an impressive 10-try triumph.

https://twitter.com/Saracens/status/1213761113176891393

Cobus Reinach: Continues to be a catalyst of all that is positive about Northampton after they picked up a late victory at Wasps on Sunday. The South African scrum-half claimed two tries on the day as his ability to be in the right place at the right time and that knack of sniffing out the whitewash once again came to the fore. Reinach has formed quite the partnership with fly-half Dan Biggar at Saints and we also feel number eight Teimana Harrison deserves praise after his try-scoring display as they stay in touch with Exeter at the Premiership summit.

Stade Francais: The Parisians have enjoyed a resurgence since the departure of Heyneke Meyer and claimed an impressive 30-18 triumph over defending Top 14 champions Toulouse on Sunday. It lifted them off the bottom of the table, with Agen replacing them as basement-dwellers. They have now claimed 11 points from the past four matches to lift the mood at the Stade Jean-Bouin and ease the concern of their supporters heading into the European break.

BROKEN THERMOSTAT

Rhys Webb situation: It has been a good week for Webb and Wales as the Toulon scrum-half was made available for selection in the Six Nations. Despite Webb not returning home from France until the end of this season, he can feature in the upcoming championship, which is a big boost to both player and country, with Wales boasting three outstanding number nines to pick from in Webb, Tomos Williams and Gareth Davies. However, this shock turn of events has not gone down well with new Toulon owner Bernard Lemaitre, who has hit out at a “dishonest attitude” surrounding the player’s return home next season, saying he won’t play for the club again this season.

COLD AS ICE

Joe Marler and Harlequins: All is not well at the Londoners after they suffered another heavy defeat, this time to Sale Sharks at the AJ Bell Stadium. Quins may well have a number of injuries but the team that took to the field on Friday was still a talented outfit, yet they were completely dominated in the 48-10 hammering. Paul Gustard’s men were out-muscled and that led to frustration, as evidenced by Joe Marler’s needless yellow card. Marler put his forearm into the face of Jean-Luc du Preez and was deservedly sin-binned for the petty act.

Munster: Johann van Graan’s men lost top spot in Conference B after an awful performance against Ulster in the interprovincial derby. The hosts dominated the collisions and consistently sent the visitors into reverse in the 38-17 triumph at the Kingspan Stadium. There is a sense that this is perhaps a transitional season following the arrival of coaches Stephen Larkham and Graham Rowntree, but Munster supporters still demand better. They are in danger of failing to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup, while it is tight in the PRO14 with six teams vying for just three places in the play-offs.

https://twitter.com/threeredkings/status/1213209820616155138

Returning South African duo: The Cheetahs and Kings hadn’t played top flight rugby since November 30 and it showed. The pair found themselves on the receiving end of 41-13 and 61-13 hammerings at the hands of Zebre and Glasgow Warriors respectively on Saturday as they endured nightmare returns to action. They will hope this is just rust but what makes their PRO14 situation all the more frustrating is that their next game is only scheduled for January 25.

Castres: It was an eighth defeat of the Top 14 season for Castres on Sunday as they were comprehensively beaten 43-3 at Toulon. They sit in 12th place going into the break for European action and it’s a precarious position to be as Stade Francais and Agen are just three and five points behind them. Despite boasting a strong XV, the former Top 14 champions look a shadow of their former selves at the moment and must regroup during the Challenge Cup.

Connacht: It has not been a season of cheer for Connacht as their latest defeat to an Irish rival wrapped up what has been a dismal period for Andy Friend’s outfit. It began with a 19-14 home defeat to Munster, which did not set many alarm bells going, but since then they have conceded a total of 89 points against Ulster and Leinster in heavy losses. Attack-wise those three negatives have seen just two tries scored, which adds to their new year woes.

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