Who’s hot and who’s not: Harlequins, Leinster, Bath donations and an early retirement

Colin Newboult

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!

Harlequins: In what many expected would be a high-scoring Premiership affair, Quins didn’t disappoint as they impressed in their 41-14 win over London Irish on Sunday. While the Exiles will rue two sleep-losing missed opportunities that their wings will want to forget, Quins made no such errors as their attacking game was to the fore in this bonus-point victory at Brentford Community Stadium. There is a feeling Harlequins are finding their title swagger yet again and that should send alarm bells running through the rest of the Premiership. Look out!

Leinster: The United Rugby Championship leaders extended the gap at the top of the table to 10 points with their 34-19 bonus-point win over rivals Munster. Leinster were sublime on the night, with wing James Lowe scoring two of their four tries. Munster coach Johann van Graan admitted that Leinster were “too good” on the day and were well-deserved winners. The Dublin-based side have further cemented their favourite tag to claim the first-ever URC title and will only get better as their internationals find their feet again. Statement victory.

Bath lend helping hand to Ukrainian refugees: Bath called on the public for donations of toys, clothes and anything that could be useful to help Ukrainian refugees. Nine players have gone on a 2000-plus mile drive to Poland to distribute items to those in need. It’s a supreme effort and a wonderful gesture from the West Country outfit to help those that have been impacted by Russia’s illegal invasion.

Relief for Beauden Barrett: Blues star Beauden Barrett had his start to the Super Rugby Pacific season delayed by long-term concussion symptoms dating back to the All Blacks game against Ireland in November. When the playmaker finally made his first appearance, he had to leave the field with another head knock. However, he was cleared of concussion. It was such a relief to hear positive news coming out of the Blues camp, as there was a fear that it was one head knock too many for Barrett. Once again we keep everything crossed for the classy back.

Bulls ticket prices: The Bulls slashed their ticket prices to just R25 (£1.30 or €1.55) as they looked to break this season’s United Rugby Championship attendance record when they faced Ulster over the weekend. This month the South African Government reduced stadium restrictions allowing up to 50% capacity. The Bulls hoped to hit 25,000 spectators and managed 19,436, but that was enough to surpass Leinster’s season record (19,419). It was a bold call from Bulls director of rugby Jake White as he looks to get crowds back in stadiums in South Africa and we are right behind moves like this. Cut ticket prices to boost support and then make that money back on refreshments.

England, Wales and France: It’s two wins from two for those three teams in the Women’s Six Nations. England top the table following dominant wins over Scotland and Italy, and they made their most recent success look incredibly easy. Italy were brushed aside in a record 74-0 result as the Red Roses returned to the summit, above France and Wales, who must also be applauded for backing up their Round One triumphs. The form of the French is not a surprise, given that they are England’s closest challengers, but the Welsh have been the standout story so far in the tournament. They face England next weekend, which will probably prove to be a step too far, but it is certainly something to build on going forward.

COLD AS ICE!

Premature retirement of James Davies: One of the game’s most exciting players has been forced to hang up his boots as news broke on Friday of his retirement due to concussion. The words given by Davies were quite frankly scary and we also commend his bravery at making the right decision to call it a day. Davies has achieved a great deal for Scarlets, Wales and in the Sevens game and should be incredibly proud of his career, with the 31-year-old flanker consistently having crowds on the edge of their seat in both forms of the game. Good luck, Cubby.

Tom Banks’ red card downgraded and further Super Rugby discipline issues: There was outrage, and quite rightly so, when a SANZAAR disciplinary hearing dismissed the red card handed out to the Brumbies full-back. Once again, the competition showed itself to be ambivalent towards head clashes by not correctly following the framework laid out by World Rugby and bizarrely coming to this decision. The southern hemisphere tournament has consistently been behind the north when sanctioning these tackles and perhaps that is why we keep seeing poor technique. On Friday, there were two further red cards brandished, which no one had any qualms about, as Shilo Klein (Crusaders) and Nemani Nagusa (Fijian Drua) were correctly sent off. Oddly, the officiating team initially described Klein’s one as an ‘accident’ but eventually came to their senses and issued a red. Remarkably, the discipline issues didn’t stop there, however, as there were then two more issued on Saturday to Caleb Clarke and Tuaina Tualima, which suggests attitudes need to change from players and coaches alike in Australia and New Zealand.

Injury woes for All Black locks: Crusaders second-row Sam Whitelock joined his All Black team-mate Brodie Retallick on the sidelines as both players suffered broken fingers this past week. Both are unfortunate injuries, but the Crusaders expect stalwart Whitelock to be back for their Australian tour, while the Chiefs have not given a specific timeline for Retallick. All Blacks head coach Ian Foster will be concerned, however, with these injuries so close to the mid-year three-match Test series against an in-form Ireland and will be looking to clarify their depth at lock with several other options, including Scott Barrett, Josh Lord and Tupou Vaa’i, to mention a few. Let’s hope the duo recover swiftly.

Spain concern over World Cup place: Spain recently punched their ticket for the 2023 World Cup in France after beating Portugal 33-28. As a result, Los Leones qualified for the global tournament for the first time in 24 years. However, it now seems to hang in the balance as the team is being investigated on suspicion of fielding an ineligible player in the Rugby Europe Championship. The process is still ongoing as World Rugby investigates, with the Spanish Rugby Union said to be fully cooperative. After joyous scenes three weeks prior, it now remains to be seen whether Spain will break their 24-year World Cup drought and they certainly did themselves no favour with the current situation.

Bristol’s salary cap mix up: According to reports in the Telegraph, Bristol have made a rather large administrative cock-up that may lead to a ‘fire sale’. It is said that several Bristol players inked ‘two plus one’ deals – i.e. two-year contracts with an option of a third – but there was a deadline set which allowed both parties to pull out. The newspaper stated that Bristol intended to release six players whose contracts were worth around £400,000, but that they missed the aforementioned deadline, leading to those deals being automatically extended. Panic has duly set in at boardroom level as they attempt to adhere to the lower salary cap from next season and it is unclear what will happen next. The Bears released a rather vague statement and, although the issue may get resolved financially with head coach Pat Lam confident there will be no issues, it could leave them severely weakened on the field as they attempt to balance the books.

Worcester’s “pathetic” display: Steve Diamond was not a happy man on Saturday after his side were thumped 45-10 at home to Newcastle Falcons. “Wholly pathetic” was how Diamond described the showing as they were shocked on their own patch and he wasn’t wrong. In contrast, Newcastle would have enjoyed their journey back to the north-east as they ran in six tries on a dismal day for the Warriors, who now have a long wait until they can make amends for this performance, with their next fixture coming on April 23 when they travel to face a dangerous Wasps.

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