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

Dave Rennie boost for Rugby Australia: After the resignation of CEO Raelene Castle, there were fears that their new head coach would decide to renege on his contract. However, there was no doubt palpable relief within the governing body that Rennie has pledged his future to the Wallabies. The current Glasgow Warriors boss, who is supposed to leave at the end of his tenure in June, is a highly-regarded operator having guided the Chiefs to successive Super Rugby titles and impressed while in charge at the Warriors. Australia still have their man.

Sir Bill getting the nod: It’s four more years for Beaumont after news broke on Saturday that he had achieved a first-round majority of 28 votes to 23 over rival for the job, Agustin Pichot, in the election. After he was re-elected as World Rugby chairman, Beaumont called on the game to unite and get working immediately to achieve sustainable growth in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. That will be easier said than done as all sports and businesses face a massive task in getting back to normal. He also has to repay the faith shown in him by his voters who need support now more than ever in these difficult times. Beaumont knows there’s little time to celebrate but, we’ll say it, congratulations Bill.

Ellis Genge leading the way with new players’ union: The Leicester Tigers and England front-row has emerged as the spokesperson for professional players who are dissatisfied with the way negotiations have been handled, around pay cuts due to the coronavirus pandemic, between their clubs and the game’s authorities. Genge feels players were poorly advised and got a raw deal with the pay cuts and is determined to establish a new players’ union, but stressed that any new organisation could exist alongside the Rugby Players’ Association who he did not criticise. Sale Sharks boss Steve Diamond has since warned players to “be careful what you wish for”, but we applaud Genge for taking the first step to help fellow team-mates and rivals receive advice from other avenues.

Rhys Webb’s part-time work for the NHS: With rugby put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Wales and Bath scrum-half has certainly kept himself busy by helping a friend who is involved with a company which produces Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) masks for the NHS health workers. Webb worked 12-hour nightshifts from 8pm to 8am and helped to make about 3,500 masks. That is excellent work from the half-back as he does his bit for the cause.

COLD AS ICE

Coaching casualty at the Bulls: While there have been coaches across the globe losing their jobs or being in the midst of uncertainty, this news at the Bulls was arguably the biggest casualty thus far. Head coach Pote Human had the remainder of his contract terminated by mutual agreement, due largely to Super Rugby being suspended. With Jake White having come in as director of rugby maybe Human’s deal was always going to be let run down until October, but the Bulls have acted swiftly as clubs continue to make financial decisions in order to keep their head above water. The coaching profession in rugby union especially is hugely insecure in that contracts are usually two seasons’ long so this pandemic adds massive strain on an already rocky field. Make no mistake there are more coaches losing their jobs at the moment and with no future rugby confirmed as of yet, finding a new position is an almost impossible task. Horrible times.

A loss but don’t lose him completely: Yes, Pichot was unfortunate to miss out on the World Rugby chairman position, but what happens next for the hugely passionate Argentine? Surely the sport’s governing body must find a way to utilise his talents under Sir Bill Beaumont in some position, but would he take what is effectively a step down in terms of title? These are big questions that need answering but it is clear from our point of view that Pichot has a lot to offer rugby and it would be foolish if this election defeat means he now walks away from a sport he has, and still can, offer a great deal to as such a crucial time.

Top 14 cancellation: It is an entirely understandable decision, given the uncertainty over when sport in general will restart and the fact that France have banned mass gatherings until August at the earliest, but it does rather open up the question of promotion and relegation. While Pro D2 clubs have agreed to the cancellation, there must be some regrets from the likes of Colomiers and Perpignan, who were comfortably entrenched in first and second place respectively. In particular, it will be galling for the former having not been in the top tier of French rugby since the 2003-04 season and have even spent some time in Fédérale 1 over the past 15 years. Future plans haven’t been confirmed but it will be entirely unsatisfactory for them should this season be completely wiped from the record books.

Southern Kings players not getting paid: The financial fallout caused by the Covid-19 pandemic had an impact on the PRO14 outfit, whose players were left waiting for their salaries at the end of April. The Kings players usually get paid on the 25th of each month but that failed to happen last week. After much finger pointing between the Kings’ equity partners – The Greatest Rugby Company in the Whole Wide World consortium – and minority shareholders, the Eastern Province Rugby Union, over the delay, Port Elizabeth’s Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality reportedly saved the day with a massive extra funding payout of R6-million (US$319,000.00) over the weekend.

Features