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!

Three Premiership legends: What has six legs, over 1000 club appearances and 125 England caps? The answer is the triumvirate of Chris Robshaw, Brad Barritt and Richard Wigglesworth, three players that define the spirits of both their respective clubs and the sport itself, who all retired from Premiership Rugby on Sunday. Barritt is hanging up his boots, Robshaw’s off to San Diego with Wigglesworth set to confirm his future shortly. Few have given more for club or country than these warriors, and in each instance, the word ‘warrior’ is apt. Both Barritt, the consummate defensive centre, and Wigglesworth, the brilliant tactician at scrum-half, have been unlucky not to have gained more caps than they have, but their domestic honours are almost unsurpassed in the history of the game. Robshaw’s tenure as an England player should be remembered not for the horrors of 2015, but the incredibly durable and versatile service he gave the back-row over nine seasons, where he always placed the needs of the team above his own. Many believe Robshaw could still have done a job in Rugby World Cup 2019 and we are inclined to agree. Players like these come around once in a generation and, in the modern era, it is doubtful we will ever see their like again.

Trio back in Pumas squad: Argentina head coach Mario Ledesma announced a 45-man squad for the Rugby Championship and there were 10 Top 14 players included. Amongst those were the experienced trio of back-row Facundo Isa and wingers Juan Imhoff and Santiago Cordero, who were sensationally omitted from the Pumas’ World Cup squad in Japan. The trio are superb attackers and their return should be a boost for Ledesma and the rest of the squad as their preparations for the prestigious southern hemisphere tournament, set to be held from November 7 to December 12, have been hampered as several players and backroom staff returned positive Covid-19 tests last month.

Wasps sealing a home semi-final: What an incredible run of form Wasps have been on since the restart as they surged into the knockout stage of the Premiership with eight wins out of nine seeing them finish just three points behind once runaway leaders Exeter. It was against a second-string Chiefs side that they finished their regular season in style, winning 46-5 on Sunday to wrap up a home semi-final this weekend. Head coach Lee Blackett is clearly working wonders right now as their mixture of promising youth and experience is combining ever so well. They’re playing with real confidence and are definitely contenders for the title. One would be foolish to think otherwise after this superb run.

Ben Healy’s special moment: Munster kicked off the PRO14 season in impressive fashion as they went to Scarlets and got the job done in dramatic style, winning 30-27 on Saturday. Head coach Johann van Graan hailed their “never-say-die” attitude as they were 24-10 adrift and one man down in the second-half after flanker and captain Peter O’Mahony received his marching orders for two yellow cards. However, the Irish side launched a spirited fightback late on as they scored 13 points in the final 10 minutes. For young fly-half Healy, kicking the winning penalty from such a long distance must have been a special moment and one the 21-year-old Academy product will have enjoyed immensely.

COLD AS ICE!

Northampton’s dismal recent home record: These are desperate times for Saints director of rugby, Chris Boyd, and his charges and the end of their Premiership campaign couldn’t have come sooner for them. Northampton, who were Premiership champions as recently as 2014, have struggled this season – especially after the lockdown – and their form at home has been particularly worrying. Last Tuesday’s 34-14 defeat against Sale Sharks at Franklin’s Gardens was their seventh negative result on the bounce in their own backyard following losses to London Irish, Bristol Bears, Saracens, Wasps, Bath and Exeter Chiefs. This is in stark contrast to Saints’ opening four home matches, which they won comfortably against Worcester Warriors, Harlequins, Leicester Tigers and Gloucester. There’s serious work to be done at training.

Manu Tuilagi’s cruel luck: England and Sale Sharks were dealt a massive setback last week when their star centre was ruled out for six months due to a torn Achilles sustained during his club’s Premiership triumph over Northampton Saints. This blow is the latest in a long list of injuries the 29-year-old international has suffered during his professional career and the timing of the current ailment is particularly bad as he was in excellent form for Sale following his move to them from Leicester Tigers. Tuilagi will go under the knife this week and is set to miss 10 of England’s scheduled Tests for 2020 and 2021. We wish him a speedy recovery and hope to see the centre return in good health.

A calamitous end to the season: What a few days it has been in the Premiership as the final round descended into a mess after 16 Sale Sharks players tested positive for Covid-19, throwing the weekend into chaos as teams didn’t know whether they were playing or not. When Premiership Rugby revealed the usual team announcements would be pushed back 24 hours, there wasn’t a hint of why, before news began to leak out about Sale’s dilemma. Remarkably it was Northampton’s match at Gloucester that was cancelled while Sale’s was postponed due to its importance to the knockout stage. This move was criticised in some quarters and we’ve had accusations and mud slinging followed by a televised defence from Sharks boss Steve Diamond. Wednesday’s game might not go ahead if retesting uncovers more positives, but it is fair to say this has been a disaster which wasn’t helped by moments of silence from club and tournament officials. The story is far from done yet.

Edinburgh: That was a hugely disappointing start to the season for the recent semi-finalists as they fell to a 25-10 defeat to the Ospreys at Murrayfield. That agonising knockout blow to Ulster last month was followed by a Challenge Cup quarter-final loss to Bordeaux-Begles and before those games they also fell to Glasgow Warriors, meaning this is their fourth successive negative, which may concern Edinburgh fans. Ospreys were a side that had been victorious in just two games out of 15 in last season’s PRO14 but were deserved winners over the weekend as the Scottish team look to be struggling with something of a hangover from that quick turnaround of last term. Richard Cockerill summed their performance up well when speaking to BBC Sport after the loss, saying: “We just didn’t fire any bullets at all tonight.” It’s concerning.