Who’s hot and who’s not!

Adam Kyriacou

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 after the weekend.

THEY’RE ON FIRE!

Leinster, Toulouse and Toulon: These clubs have been amongst the dominant forces of the European game over the past decade and this season has been no different as they are the only teams to win all six of their matches in the Champions and Challenge Cup competitions. Leinster have led the way in the Champions Cup by amassing the most points (28) from the five pools in that tournament, while Toulouse was next best, along with Exeter Chiefs – who drew one game – one point adrift. Meanwhile, Toulon, have laid down a marker in the Challenge Cup and, like Leinster, also finished with 28 points from their six pool matches.

Northampton Saints: Produced an impressive display to defeat a strong Lyon side and secure their passage into the Champions Cup quarter-finals. The hosts fielded a powerful team but, despite a positive start, Northampton kept themselves in the contest and finished the match superbly. Lewis Ludlam was in fine form, while their attack shone in the latter stages with George Furbank and James Fish scoring fine tries.

Rory Kockott: An outstanding performance from the scrum-half and his Castres side on Friday as they overcame Worcester Warriors 33-27 at Sixways, thus booking their place in the Challenge Cup knockouts as Pool 1 winners. Their number nine was on top form in the match as he contributed 23 of their points, rolling back the years as the French side knocked out their English opponents. Credit must also go to the other side in this pool, Dragons, who have been on an upward curve under Dean Ryan and celebrated that by also making it to the last eight.

International call-ups: One can only imagine the special feeling players have when they receive the news they have been selected for their country for the first time. There were plenty in that bracket this past week as Louis Rees-Zammit, Nick Tompkins, Ratu Tagive, Billy Burns and Max Deegan were just some of those named in a first significant senior international squad with the Six Nations looming. It will now be a case of parking some of that excitement to one side and making a positive impression on their respective coaches before February.

Exeter Chiefs: Rob Baxter’s charges made a statement of intent ahead of the Champions Cup’s quarter-finals as they notched an impressive 33-14 win over La Rochelle at Sandy Park on Sunday. That result means Exeter finished the pool phase of the competition unbeaten with five victories from their six matches played with their only blip being a 31-31 draw with Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun in Round 5. There is an air of excitement amongst the Sandy Park faithful ahead of the quarter-finals as the Chiefs will be keen to impress in the knockout rounds which they have reached for only the second time in their history.

COLD AS ICE!

Saracens scandal: It has been confirmed that the reigning Premiership and European champions will not be competing in both competitions next season after being relegated from England’s top-flight. After an initial 35-point deduction and £5million fine, they have been punished further after failing to comply with the regulations. It was demanded that Sarries take immediate action to reduce their wage bill, which is reportedly £2million over the salary cap, but the Londoners have both been too slow and unable to off-load players. As a result, they have accepted demotion and will start next season in the Championship. There are still plenty of questions, however, particularly around their star players and how it will affect England and the Lions, while it significantly tarnishes Nigel Wray’s legacy.

https://twitter.com/chjones9/status/1218621673856995328

Bath: Although they delivered a competitive performance in a hard-fought match with Ulster in Belfast, it was not enough to secure them victory as Stuart Hooper’s men suffered a 22-15 defeat to the Irish province. That result means the West Country-based club lost all six of their matches in this year’s tournament – a first for the Premiership outfit – which means this season’s effort was their worst-ever campaign in 16 seasons of European Cup rugby.

Will Skelton and Bernard Le Roux: Both received cards for what were effectively cheap shots in the game between Saracens and Racing 92. For Skelton, who regularly borders on the line of illegality when tackling, it has been coming and his shoulder to the head of Brice Dulin was utterly stupid and resulted in the lock being sent-off. Down to 14 men, his Sarries team-mates did brilliantly to keep them in contention and that frustration boiled over to Racing’s Le Roux, who was yellow carded with 12 minutes remaining for a late hit on Owen Farrell. That ultimately cost the Frenchmen the match as the hosts controlled the latter stages and won the game via the boot of Farrell.

Wasps: An awful campaign got even worse after a poor 27-0 home defeat to Bordeaux-Begles on Saturday. The Midlanders secured just two wins in six matches, which means they have missed out on qualification from their Challenge Cup pool. Dai Young’s men are also struggling in the Premiership, but fortunately for them they won’t be looking over their shoulder this season due to Saracens’ salary cap breaches.

Worcester Warriors: Threw away an opportunity to reach the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup following a disappointing loss to Castres. Had they defeated the Frenchmen, the Warriors would have made it into the last-eight, but Alan Solomons’ men were poor in the second half, conceding a 15-point lead. It all went wrong when they took off their front-row as the lineout malfunctioned and the scrum started to go into reverse. Credit to Castres – and of course hat-trick hero Kockott (Mentioned above) – but Worcester were architects of their own downfall.

 

Challenge Cup