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 Six Nations joy for both the England Men’s and Women’s side over the weekend as they wrapped up their respective silverware after beating Italy. The Men pulled away from the Azzurri in the second period to leave their rivals for the trophy with too much to do as France could not claw back the points difference in their game against Ireland. That means it is now their third Six Nations title under Eddie Jones and the Women were not to be outdone on Sunday as they sealed the Grand Slam with a big win over Italy. With the other two final round games called off due to Covid-19, the result meant England finished a massive 14 points clear at the summit.

Milestone men: Three international stalwarts reached significant caps on Saturday as Wales second-row Alun Wyn Jones (149 caps) became the game’s most capped player while England scrum-half Ben Youngs and Ireland prop Cian Healy hit the 100 mark. While the latter duo’s centuries are admirable achievements, there’s no doubt who stole the headlines this past week as Jones, whose international career began 7,500 miles from Wales at the sporting outpost of Estadio Raul Conti in Puerto Madryn, Patagonia, 14 years ago, moved past New Zealand great Richie McCaw atop the pile. He’s gone on to be a Wales and Lions legend.

All Blacks: A record win over Wallabies to seal the Bledisloe Cup for an 18th straight year was a very good day’s work from New Zealand. They absolutely dominated their hosts in Sydney as they ran in six tries, with fly-half Richie Mo’unga starring with a brace as he caused all kinds of problems for Australia. The All Blacks set themselves the challenge of wrapping up the Bledisloe on Australian soil – something they hadn’t done for 11 years – so to put in a showing that like that pleased them immensely. To a man the All Blacks’ 23 all impressed as they outclassed their opponents to keep the coveted trophy in their grasp.

Doddie Weir: One of the game’s favourite sons was inducted into Scottish Rugby’s Hall of Fame last week. Weir received the sculpted Hall of Fame cap from his fellow inductee Chris Paterson at Weir’s farm near Lauder. Normally such awards are presented at glittering gala dinners before the acclaim of hundreds but, due to Covid-19, the prize was awarded in a well-ventilated barn and the only audience was cattle that his wife Kath was getting ready to go to market. Former Scotland and Lions second-row Weir said: “This means so much to me. And it’s great that there are four Melrose men in the Hall of Fame and only two from Gala!”

France on the rise: Although they finished in second position – on points difference behind winners England – on the Six Nations table, Les Bleus have made tremendous strides under the guidance of head coach Fabien Galthie, who took over the reins from Jacques Brunel at the start of the tournament. France have gone through a slump in recent years but with Galthie in charge they are a force in the world game again. During the Six Nations, Galthie has found the right balance between a competitive pack of forwards – like captain Charles Ollivon, Grégory Alldritt and Julien Marchand – and a brilliant attacking backline – with Romain Ntamack, Antoine Dupont and Virimi Vakatawa leading the way – and if they continue on their current trajectory, they will be amongst the favourites to win the next Rugby World Cup which they will host in 2023.

COLD AS ICE!

Wallabies: Yes, New Zealand were excellent and have been mentioned already, but it’s impossible to ignore what a hiding Australia took on home soil on Saturday. To go down so emphatically will concern head coach Dave Rennie as at times their defence looked paper thin against their more organised and confident opponents. Their pack was dominated throughout and we can remember only a few bright moments from powerful young centre Jordan Petaia and fly-half Noah Lolesio as being positives to take from the contest. Fortunately, they get an immediate opportunity to settle some scores against them in Brisbane next weekend.

Sad loss of JJ Williams: Rugby lost one its greats last week when Llanelli, Wales and British & Irish Lions wing Williams passed away at the age of 72. Tributes poured in for a back who scored 12 tries in 30 appearances for Wales and won Grand Slams in 1976 and 1978, as well as four Triple Crowns between 1976 and 1979. He also equalled David Duckham’s record of six tries in a single Lions game during a 97-0 victory over South West Districts in 1974. A superb player.

Struggling Agen: Disastrous is one word to describe Agen’s start to the campaign and on Saturday things got even worse for them as they found themselves on the receiving end of a 71-5 defeat at the hands of Bordeaux-Begles. That was their seventh straight defeat to begin the new season and leaves them seven points behind Castres despite playing two games more. But what is more concerning than the table is the manner of their loss at UBB as they leaked 10 tries in the game against a side that had won just one game previously in opening four rounds. The heavy loss cost manager Christophe Laussucq and coach Remi Vaquin their jobs, with the club eyeing a response against Lyon this week.

Wales and Wayne Pivac: It has not gone well for Pivac since taking charge of the national team following the departure of Warren Gatland. The former Scarlets head coach vowed to alter the style to a more attacking game plan, but they look bereft of confidence. They have, at times, shown glimpses of what the 58-year-old wants to implement but that certainly wasn’t in evidence as they succumbed to Scotland on Saturday. The Welsh had not lost to the Scots at home since 2002 but they were deservedly beaten in Llanelli. It was a dire performance and many are starting to wonder whether Pivac was the right appointment.

Blow for English rugby: The lower tier game in England suffered a massive blow with the news that the Rugby Football Union has decided to cancel the Adult Competitive Leagues (Level 3 and below for Men, Level 2 and below for Women) for the 2020/21 season due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. That decision was made after the UK Government announced a second national lockdown for England. While the decision is understandable, these are tough times for the game at grassroots level and hopefully lower league clubs will find ways to raise funds so that they will not become insolvent as a consequence of this.