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!

Dan Carter’s Super Rugby return: The Blues received a shot in the arm when it was revealed that the three-time World Rugby Player of the Year will be joining their ranks for New Zealand’s upcoming Super Rugby Aotearoa tournament. Although Carter is 38 years old and is joining as injury cover for Stephen Perofeta, he is a winner with a proven track record. A player of his class should prove invaluable to his new team – especially in a mentorship role to his younger team-mates – and with him capable of playing several roles, there is plenty of excitement and expectation down Auckland way about their new signing.

Super Rugby Aotearoa rule changes: One positive of this time away from the sport has been the ability to really think outside the box in terms of how rugby can improve. The announced experiments, set to be used in Super Rugby Aotearoa, certainly pricked our ears and we are especially excited by the golden point tiebreaker if teams are locked up at full-time. Teams will go into a 10-minute period of extra time and the first team to score any points will win the game, thus doing away with the draw. Red-carded players will also be able to be replaced after 20 minutes in another significant change, which does away with matches being effectively ruined by a sending off. Hats off to those in New Zealand who drummed up these trials, which could well become permanent. Thoughts?

Eddie Jones keeping things light: With all the doom and gloom of recent times it was typically Eddie to stir the pot and bring a few chuckles. Speaking on New Zealand television and asked for his view on the upcoming Super Rugby Aotearoa, he quipped: “Just so many good young players, mate, cause you have three of the biggest academies in the world; Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.” This was met with laughs in The Breakdown studio and unsurprisingly around the world thereafter.

Michael Fatialofa out of hospital: After spending the last six months in hospital, due to a serious spinal cord injury which he sustained during a Premiership encounter against Saracens, the Worcester Warriors second-row was discharged on Friday. As you can see in the video below, Fatialofa’s wife is overjoyed that he is walking unaided – something which seemed a long way off and almost impossible to comprehend during the initial stages of his horrific injury. Fatialofa’s remarkable recuperation is not complete and Worcester revealed that he will continue his rehabilitation at Sixways, focusing on improving his general muscular strength, co-ordination and mobility. We wish Michael the very best with that and hopefully he continues on the road to a full recovery.

https://twitter.com/tatianafats/status/1268986716569964545

BROKEN THERMOSTAT

The Burgess-Ford(s) saga: Five years after his departure from rugby union, the former league star has finally had his say on what went on before, during and after that disastrous tournament for hosts England. Burgess, who joined Bath in 2014 from the South Sydney Rabbitohs, was made the scapegoat by many for their performance in the competition, which saw them knocked out at the pool stage. That was despite England leading against Wales when the centre was on the field. Once he was replaced by Bath team-mate George Ford on 70 minutes, the Red Rose went on to lose the match 28-25. Ford and his father, Mike, criticised Burgess after he left the West Country outfit to rejoin the Rabbitohs, but the 31-year-old has now hit back in sensational style. No doubt the Fords will reply in due course to what Burgess said last week, but the ex-rugby league star’s comments do not cast either in a good light, especially father Mike, who bore the brunt of the 31-year-old’s ire. Burgess stated that he lost respect for the former Bath head honcho and believed he was used as a pawn by Ford, accusing the current Leicester coach of being a “snake.” That, interestingly, was backed up by flanker Carl Fearns, a player that featured for four years at the Rec, who was unhappy with Ford’s treatment of South African Gary Gold. Son George was also criticised by Burgess after the rugby union newbie was picked ahead of him for the Wales encounter in the 2015 World Cup, but the duo have also had their defenders, notably Leicester Tigers director of rugby Geordan Murphy, who described Burgess’ criticism of the Fords and its timing as strange.

COLD AS ICE!

Gloucester debacle: Although there has been no rugby union action for just under three months, there has been plenty going on behind the scenes at the Kingsholm-based club, which resulted in the resignations of their head coach, Johan Ackermann, and director of rugby, David Humphreys. Ackermann quitting the Cherry and Whites – to join Japanese outfit NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes – came as a surprise as he signed a contract extension last year, but his departure was hastened following rumours of squad unrest. Meanwhile, Humphreys, who was leading the recruitment drive for Ackermann’s replacement, also stepped down from his position after allegedly failing to persuade the side’s hierarchy to replace Ackermann with a highly-rated coach from outside the club – high profile coaches like Richard Cockerill, Dai Young and Rob Howley’s names were mentioned – so as things currently stand Gloucester are without key off-field leaders at the top.

https://twitter.com/AndyGoode10/status/1267858034338004995

Sunwolves disbanded and denied fitting farewell: With the uncertainty over the current campaign, we have seen the last of the Japanese franchise because of the coronavirus outbreak which forced Super Rugby to be suspended back in March. The 2020 season was going to be the Sunwolves’ last before they disbanded, but there was a hope that they could join Australia’s new domestic competition and at least have a more fitting goodbye. However, with travel between countries uncertain, the Asian outfit have duly bowed out as they were unable to compete in the revised Super Rugby tournament.

Rugby Australia staff axings: It’s always heartbreaking to see job cuts in any field but it hits closer to home when it is from the rugby family. Last week it was announced there would be a staggering 47 of 142 full-time staff at Rugby Australia made redundant in the coming months, this coming alongside news that 30 other contractors and casual staff have been let go with immediate effect as drastic measures take place. Rugby AU interim CEO Rob Clarke said it was “an incredibly difficult day for the organisation” as “a lot of very passionate, hard-working rugby people” were dealt the harsh news. We wish them all well.

Disgusting abuse of George Mbofana: Racism is very much in the spotlight right now and Mbofana, a player at Pontarddulais RFC, decided to quit the club after shameful comments were allegedly posted on the team’s WhatsApp group regarding the #blacklivesmatter protests. South Wales Police have since launched an investigation into the messages in which Mbofana was subsequently allegedly accused of ‘turning gay during lockdown’, ‘just bitching at everyone’, and ‘going off on a tangent’. It was reported that the players involved have been suspended by the club while one issued an apology, stating: “I’ve failed as a friend, I’ve failed as a teammate and I’ve failed at being anti-racist.” Incredibly Mbofana has in the past made homophobic comments which he has also apologised for.

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