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!

Australia: Following the criticism of the previous week, this was some way to respond. They were quite simply abysmal in going down to a record defeat to New Zealand in Sydney as the visitors went away with a 43-5 triumph, but their display in Brisbane was so much better. Although the All Blacks played a slightly altered team, it was still immensely strong and it must be remembered that the hosts were without the experienced James O’Connor and Matt Toomua. Reece Hodge stepped into the fly-half role and produced a decent display, but it was the all-round effort which was so much better. There was intensity, physicality and composure as they deservedly overturned their trans-Tasman rivals and claimed their first victory under new boss Dave Rennie.

French rugby: Although they finished in second position – on points difference behind England – in the Six Nations, these are exciting times for Les Bleus having played an exciting brand of rugby in 2020. That was underlined earlier in the week when livewire scrum-half Antoine Dupont was announced as the Six Nations player of the championship after several outstanding attacking performances. Although the 23-year-old was a deserved winner, it must be remembered that two of his team-mates – fly-half Romain Ntamack and number eight Gregory Alldritt – were also nominated for that special accolade. If truth be told, both players could easily have walked off with that award as they have also impressed with their style of play throughout the tournament and all three will be hoping to continue in that vein during the forthcoming Autumn Nations Cup campaign.

South Africa’s commitment to Rugby Championship: After the announcement that South Africa’s four major franchises – the Bulls, Stormers, Lions and Sharks – would leave Super Rugby to join the PRO14, there were genuine concerns that the world champion Springboks would end their long-standing association with SANZAAR and the annual Rugby Championship – especially after they withdrew from this year’s tournament in Australia – to compete at Test level in the northern hemisphere. Those fears proved to be unfounded as SANZAAR confirmed that South Africa will play in the Rugby Championship, alongside Australia, Argentina and New Zealand, for the next 10 years. That decision could prove to be a masterstroke from SA Rugby as it will give them an opportunity to experience the best of both worlds as their franchises will be playing against some of Europe’s best teams while continuing to compete against the southern hemisphere’s leading countries in the international arena.

James Lowe call-up: Leinster’s New Zealand-born flyer has impressed with his brilliant attacking play since joining the Irish province from the Hamilton-based Chiefs in 2017 and, after qualifying via the three-year residency rule, he was named in Ireland head coach Andy Farrell’s 34-man squad for their Autumn Nations Cup campaign. The 28-year-old former Maori All Blacks representative’s brilliance on attack has has helped Leinster win three-consecutive PRO14 titles and he will be hoping to transfer his scintillating form to the international stage. We can’t wait to see him in green.

Irish provinces: Much of the talk is unsurprisingly about Leinster, who racked up their 24th consecutive victory in the PRO14 on Sunday by defeating the Ospreys, but Ulster and Munster are also going about their business impressively. They both remain unbeaten, with the Belfast outfit claiming an excellent away win at Cardiff Blues last week to increase their winning run to four matches. Dan McFarland’s men take on Glasgow Warriors later on Monday attempting to make it five in a row and keep the pressure on the Dubliners in Conference A. Munster, meanwhile, had their game cancelled due to an outbreak of coronavirus at Benetton, but they are similarly looking strong. It was an all-Irish final in 2019/20 and it wouldn’t be surprising should the same happen this season.

COLD AS ICE!

Bledisloe ill-discipline: It was a fractious Bledisloe Cup game but that didn’t cause Ofa Tuungafasi and Lachie Swinton to rather needlessly get themselves sent off for similar incidents. Both players connected with the head of an opponent, leaving referee Nic Berry, who had an excellent match, with little option other than to issue red cards. Then there was the sin-binning of Scott Barrett, whose actions were arguably even more stupid than those two. With just over 10 minutes to go, the second-row cynically knocked the ball out of the hands of Nic White, leading to a penalty and a yellow card. Hodge converted the opportunity to take the Wallabies ahead and it gave the hosts the momentum they needed to secure the victory in the latter stages. It was a costly error from Barrett.

Byron Hayward: Wales’ defence has been awful since Wayne Pivac took charge but it was still a shock to see the man who was given the responsibility of building on Shaun Edwards’ legacy depart by ‘mutual agreement’. Pivac and Hayward worked with each other at the Scarlets and enjoyed plenty of success prior to them linking up with the national team. However, it evidently wasn’t working at the highest level with them shipping over 20 points in four of the past five matches. The timing is interesting, though, with Wales due to feature in the upcoming Autumn Nations Cup, including facing Ireland as early as Friday. They are low on confidence and now have no defence specialist heading into what is a big month for the head coach and the team.

Injury woes for Scotland: After Finn Russell was axed for disciplinary reasons back in January, head coach Gregor Townsend placed his trust in Adam Hastings. Scotland’s boss was rewarded as Hastings settled nicely into Test rugby, but he will now have to do without both for the Autumn Nations Cup. They were injured in their Six Nations victory over Wales and are set for several months on the sidelines, which is a huge blow for the Scots. To have one out is difficult but to have both unavailable for the whole series is a significant setback and hugely unfortunate for Townsend.

PRO14 disruption: Although most of the tournament’s matches have been completed so far, it has not been without some glitches as several games have been postponed due to positive Covid-19 cases at some clubs. Benetton have been hardest hit as they have only played three so far this season after their matches against Connacht and Munster were postponed due a small number of positive coronavirus cases at the Italian outfit. Welsh region the Dragons’ programme has also been disrupted after they returned seven new positive tests as part of the Welsh Rugby’s weekly programme. That meant that their Round Five clash against Connacht, scheduled for Saturday at Rodney Parade, was postponed, as well as their away fixture against Glasgow Warriors in Round Six. We wish all those affected a speedy recovery.

Brive: They have dropped into the bottom two of the Top 14 after suffering a fourth successive defeat. Brive are still clear of Agen, who have endured an awful start, but the manner of their losses will be of concern to boss Jeremy Davidson. They have had a difficult run, facing Toulouse, Montpellier, Clermont Auvergne and Toulon, but Davidson’s men haven’t really got close to their opponents. Two of those losses have also been at the Stade Amedee-Domenech and, with home matches so crucial in France, they need to find the answers to their problems, and quickly.

 

Bath