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 after the weekend.

THEY’RE ON FIRE!

Double delight for England: It was a memorable weekend for the Red Rose as both their Men’s and Women’s teams picked up impressive victories against their counterparts from Wales on Saturday. The women got the ball rolling at Twickenham Stoop as they secured the Triple Crown after going over for 10 tries in a 66-7 thrashing in front of 10,974 fans, which is a record for an England women ticketed home game outside of a World Cup. Eddie Jones’ team followed that up with a hard-fought 33-30 victory at Twickenham against Wayne Pivac’s side, despite finishing the match with 13 men – after Manu Tuilagi received a red card and Ellis Genge was sent to the sin bin – and, in doing so, they too won the Triple Crown.

Scotland: Up to third place in the Six Nations standings after they ended France’s Grand Slam hopes at Murrayfield in impressive fashion. To a man the Scots stepped up to the challenge of facing the in-form French and claimed their second win of the Championship, which remarkably leaves them within touching distance of being top of the table at the end of this coming weekend. Furthermore, this performance will have done their confidence a power of good as they backed up nilling Italy on the road with the scalp of France. Early-campaign issues now seem a long time ago.

Sale Sharks and Exeter Chiefs: These sides are currently sitting pretty at the top of the Premiership standings and if they continue with their current form, it’s going to be difficult for the other teams to haul them in. Second-placed Sale threw down the gauntlet to table-toppers Exeter Chiefs when they delivered an excellent display in their 39-0 triumph against London Irish at the AJ Bell Stadium on Friday and in doing so, they moved to the top of the table, albeit temporarily. Not to be outdone, Exeter responded by claiming a 57-20 victory over Bath at Sandy Park the following day – a result which saw them return to the Premiership’s summit and they are now five points ahead of the Sharks with 45 points amassed from 13 matches.

Rebels: After a slow start to their Super Rugby campaign – in which they lost three of their first four matches – the Melbourne-based outfit have found their mojo in recent rounds and wracked up impressive back-to-back victories against the Highlanders and Lions. The Round Five win over the Highlanders was significant as it was their first ever triumph in Dunedin and they followed it up with an impressive 37-17 bonus-point win over the Lions in Melbourne at the weekend. Those results have moved Dave Wessels’ side into second position in the Australian Conference.

Tom May’s superb effort for great causes: The former England and Newcastle Falcons utility back deserves plenty of praise as he ran six marathons in as many days to raise funds for both cancer and motor neurone disease charities. The 41-year-old May revealed that he decided to take on this challenge as his mother is a cancer sufferer and his former Falcons team-mate Doddie Weir is involved in his own battle with MND. Great effort, Tom.

New Zealand Sevens: After failing to reach the final at the Sydney and Los Angeles legs of the 2019/20 World Rugby Sevens Series, the Clark Laidlaw-coached side hit their straps at the Vancouver Sevens where they went unbeaten over two days before beating Australia 17-14 in a hotly contested final on Sunday. Their tournament win means New Zealand have extended their lead at the top of the series standings and they have amassed 115 points after the completion of six rounds of the 10-leg competition.

COLD AS ICE!

Mindless Joe Marler moment: Credit to Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones for his measured response when he was quizzed by the media at Twickenham, but for those who think Marler’s act was funny and light-hearted need to have a rethink. Jones is correct in saying if he’d reacted to the first-half groin grab he could have been red carded and his call for World Rugby to act on this is correct, with a punishment starting from 12 weeks, according to Regulation 17.

Tyrel Lomax: The Hurricanes’ match against the Blues in Wellington was evenly poised with the home side leading 8-7 but despite their narrow advantage, Jason Holland’s charges held a slight edge over their opponents and were on course for a 10th successive win in this fixture. However, the game’s complexion changed in the 47th minute, when Lomax was red carded for a shoulder charge to the head of Blues full-back Stephen Perofeta. The one-Test All Black prop’s challenge was a reckless and unnecessary one which helped the visiting team take control of the match which they eventually won and, in doing so, end a nine-match losing streak against the Hurricanes in Super Rugby.

Mohammed Haouas: Another moment of madness from a front-row and like Lomax, Haouas’ mindless act cost his team dearly. The Les Bleus tighthead received his marching orders for an unprovoked punch on Jamie Ritchie and his act of thuggery played a big part in his side’s 28-17 loss to Scotland. The result at Murrayfield was France’s first defeat of this year’s Six Nations and could well cost them their first championship victory since 2010.

Sunwolves and Waratahs: Things are looking bleak in Super Rugby for these sides, who are amongst the also-rans in the tournament and based on current form, unlikely to win anytime soon. The Sunwolves look a pale shadow of the side which beat the Rebels in their tournament opener and have followed that up with heavy defeats against the Chiefs, Reds, Hurricanes and Brumbies. Their defeat to the men from Canberra was part of a double-header in Wollongong at the weekend, which also featured the Waratahs and Chiefs, and the Sydneysiders conceded a half century of points against the excellent Hamilton-based franchise, who outscored their hosts by seven tries to two.

Bulls v Highlanders kit clash: It’s truly remarkable that something like this can occur nowadays as an amateur mistake was made by two professional teams. In the first half of their game in Pretoria, it was difficult to distinguish between the two sides as they wore similar kits, which made for an awful spectacle. It evidently affected the Bulls the most, who changed strips at half-time and promptly produced their best 40 minutes of the season to score five tries in the second period and claim a 38-13 triumph. How this mishap was able to happen is beyond belief in our eyes.