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!

Ed Jackson: What an inspiration this man is. Former Bath, Wasps and Dragons player, Jackson, who was left paralysed after breaking his neck when diving into the shallow end of a swimming pool in 2017, had already amazed the general public when he climbed Snowdon only a year after that accident. Over last week he went one better but instead of bracing the elements outside, lockdown forced him to instead use his stairs at home, as he climbed for four days to complete the 89,056 steps required to reach the summit. This was all to raise money for the NHS and charity Wings For Life, which conducts spinal cord research. Bravo.

Jonathan ‘Jiffy’ Davies: One reason Jackson (above) decided to complete his heroic feat was due to charities being hit hard due to the ongoing pandemic. Former Wales dual code international Davies, who is president of Velindre NHS Trust, chose to cycle a marathon every day for 10 days for the charity. This, at the age of 57, is a remarkable effort from the now TV pundit, who unfortunately lost both his father and wife to cancer but was blown away by Velindre’s care.

London Irish: Another positive story last week came from London Irish, who teamed up with leading waste management and recycling company Powerday to deliver meals to frontline doctors, nurses and care workers at hospitals across the capital and Thames Valley. On Friday they’d delivered over 17,000 meals which is a brilliant effort, with several members of the playing squad also having assisted the campaign, delivering and cooking meals. Top work, everyone!

Agustin Pichot’s campaign: The ex-Argentina captain has shaken up rugby’s establishment with his decision to challenge former England skipper Sir Bill Beaumont for World Rugby’s chairmanship. In the current climate of uncertainty, Pichot’s campaign has been well-timed and smart as he has had interviews with plenty of media outlets and presented himself as a breath of fresh air in the rugby landscape that has been dominated by the game’s old order for a while. His charge is now over as he waits to see the result but it’s fair to say he couldn’t have done more in the short space of time since he announced he was running.

COLD AS ICE!

Raelene Castle and Australian rugby: You have to feel sorry for the now former CEO of Rugby Australia, who tendered her resignation during the week after growing pressure within the game. Stakeholders had reportedly lost confidence in Castle, while 11 ex-Wallaby captains co-authored a letter calling for the chief executive to step down. It must be remembered that Castle inherited a mess and the boss’ attempts to alter the game within the country was often met with dissatisfaction. Mistakes were no doubt made but she was dealt a pretty awful hand and it never seemed like the former Canterbury Bulldogs CEO was ever going to be accepted by the Australian rugby establishment.

https://twitter.com/rdhinds/status/1253268686527361024

James Cronin’s doping ban: The Munster prop was suspended for a month after a supposed ‘unintentional doping offence.’ The story goes that Cronin felt unwell before their game with Racing 92 where he was prescribed the antibiotic Amoxicillin. He then went to the pharmacy and was apparently handed medication which was meant for someone else. That contained Prednisolone – i.e steroids – which led to a failed test and a subsequent suspension, even though EPCR made no mention of the outcome of the case on its website. The whole thing does not paint rugby in a good light and, if anything, it appears that they have tried their best to bury bad news. After all, there are more important things going on in the world at the moment, but this case is very murky and shows that the sport is not doing enough to tackle doping. The game against Racing came in late November but it wasn’t until February 19 that Cronin was notified of the violation. Even worse is that the loosehead played two more matches following the charge instead of being stood down from playing and will now not miss any games in what has been a farcical process.

Francis Kean and World Rugby: The debate shouldn’t really be around the Fiji chairman’s resignation but of how someone like him gets into a position where he can be in such an influential position within World Rugby. Kean was standing as one of eight candidates for the seven positions in the governing body’s executive committee, but was forced to withdraw after accusations of homophobia and discrimination while in charge of Fiji’s prison service. That isn’t the worst of it, however, as the 54-year-old was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months in prison back in 2007 after Kean killed salesman John Whippy while at a wedding. It therefore begs the question of how the Fijian Rugby Union and World Rugby can allow such a person to get into an influential position within the sport?

Rohan Janse van Rensburg’s double contract: The one-Test Springbok centre hit the headlines for the wrong reason last week when he was given a two-week suspension and fined £32,500, after signing contracts with both his current club, Sale Sharks, and Premiership rivals Gloucester. Janse van Rensburg initially signed on the dotted line for the Cherry and Whites but had a change of mind and also inked with Sale, who was also fined £20,000 for breaching the “approaches to players” rule and given a suspended five-point deduction for the next two seasons. It was a strange episode and that has left the centre somewhat red faced.

 

France