Who’s hot and who’s not!

Colin Newboult
Add as a preferred source on Google

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!

Toulouse: There was plenty of pressure on Ugo Mola and his troops as they came into Saturday’s Champions Cup final but they deserve plenty of credit after claiming a 22-17 triumph over La Rochelle at Twickenham on Saturday. Although they received a shot in the arm when Levani Botia was red carded late in the opening half, they still had to work hard for the victory as La Rochelle stayed in the fight until the end. Les Rouge et Noir‘s success was a memorable one as it means they became the first team to be crowned Champions Cup winners for the fifth time – 11 years after they last lifted the prestigious trophy. It is also a case of just reward for Mola and the club’s bosses, after they came close to being relegated from the Top 14 in 2017.

Montpellier: Five years after their first Challenge Cup triumph, Montpellier are champions again after edging past Leicester Tigers in the final. Following a pretty abysmal season, which saw them in danger of going down at one stage, it has ended well for Philippe Saint-Andre’s men. Nine wins in a row culminated in silverware as their class told in key moments during the match at Twickenham. Having struggled at the maul for most of the match, their replacements made a significant difference to halt the English side’s forward surge, while the try that decided the contest was sheer class.

Six Nations TV deal: In wonderful news for fans in the United Kingdom, the Six Nations is set to stay on free-to-air television for the foreseeable future. The competition organisers have agreed a deal in principle with broadcasters BBC and ITV to keep the biggest annual rugby tournament in the world available to the masses. As cricket in England has shown – the ECB decided to take Test cricket from Channel 4 to Sky Sports in 2005 – the potential short-term windfall by moving it to pay TV does not necessarily equate to long-term growth and success if people aren’t able to watch the sport. What is also excellent about this deal, providing it is all signed and sealed over the coming weeks, is that it includes the Women and U20 tournaments, which means all forms of the game will be on terrestrial.

Sam Simmonds: It doesn’t really need saying any more, but it is simply staggering that the Exeter Chiefs number eight has not been involved with England since 2018. Simmonds has enjoyed another stunning season, earning a place in the British & Irish Lions squad as a result, and then broke the Premiership record for most tries in a season last Tuesday. He took his tally to 19, overtaking Dominic Chapman and Christian Wade on the list, after touching down three times against London Irish. Eddie Jones may not want him but Warren Gatland certainly does and we are looking forward to seeing the Exeter man on the hard tracks in South Africa.

All Blacks’ Pacific Island Tests: The All Blacks have announced their Test schedule for the mid-year internationals and it sees them taking on Tonga and Fiji in their three encounters. New Zealand and ‘Ikale Tahi open proceedings on July 3 before Ian Foster’s men host the Fijians in a two-Test series over the following couple of weeks. France’s decision to tour Australia – in 2009 and ’13 Les Bleus faced the All Blacks while the British & Irish Lions were taking on South Africa and the Wallabies respectively – no doubt played its part in the schedule, but it is still refreshing to see the Pacific Islanders get their shot at one of the world’s best. Hopefully it becomes a regular occurrence and the All Blacks also tour the Islands, but don’t hold your breath.

COLD AS ICE!

Levani Botia: The Fijian international made unwanted history when he became the first man to be red carded in a Champions Cup final during La Rochelle’s defeat to Toulouse. Although the 32-year-old’s dismissal – for his shoulder to the head tackle on Toulouse full-back Maxime Medard – was a massive setback for La Rochelle in their quest to be crowned European champions for the first time in their history, referee Luke Pearce was left with no choice as there was no mitigation in the challenge. The incident occurred in the 27th minute and, despite playing with 14 men for most of the match, La Rochelle remained competitive and even led 12-9 at half-time. However, they will be wondering what could have been if Botia had not received his marching orders.

Theo Brophy-Clews and Scott Otten retirements: It is always heartbreaking to see players being forced to retire but particularly so when they are so young. At 24 and 26 respectively, Brophy-Clews and Otten had plenty left to offer, but they both had to call it a day last week. The former was an outstanding talent for England at U20 level and as recently as April was playing a key role in London Irish’s impressive season. In fact, the playmaker was arguably enjoying his best ever campaign having struggled with a succession of injuries in the early part of his career. Unfortunately, concussion issues have put a sad end to his playing days, with Otten retiring due to a significant neck issue. We wish both of them all the best for whatever they do next.

Agen: It looks almost certain that they will go through the whole Top 14 season without winning a match. Agen have played 24 games so far this season and succumbed in every one, with their latest an awful 49-3 home defeat by Bordeaux-Begles on Friday. Regis Sonnes’ men have endured an embarrassing campaign and, with encounters against play-off chasing Racing 92 and Lyon to come, it is likely to get even worse.

Northampton Saints: Chris Boyd’s men were recently one of the form sides in the Premiership but successive defeats – to bottom half teams Gloucester and Newcastle Falcons – have seen their play-off chances dissipate. With three games remaining they are 11 points behind fourth placed Harlequins and will need a miracle to reach the top four. The Saints play some of the best rugby in the league but, when Boyd’s charges are off their game, they really struggle. That was demonstrated by those aforementioned losses as Northampton failed to find the fluency they have become renowned for and will deservedly miss out on the semi-finals as a result.

Aussie Super Rugby sides: For the second successive week, all five of Australia’s leading teams find themselves in this section after another underwhelming overall performance against their New Zealand counterparts in Super Rugby Trans-Tasman. However, unlike Round One, when the Western Force and Brumbies came close to winning their games, it was one-way traffic for the Kiwi sides this week as the aforementioned teams, as well as the Melbourne Rebels, Waratahs and Reds, all suffered big defeats against the Highlanders, Chiefs, Hurricanes, Blues and Crusaders. The Australian franchises will have to become more competitive very quickly otherwise this tournament could turn into a damp squib.

Australia