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!

Jonny May and England: That was some showing from England on Saturday as they battered Ireland into submission at Twickenham. Their defence made the eyes water as they gave the Irish nothing and consistently drove them back in contact, which made us feel like the game was done as a contest long before the end. It wasn’t just without the ball that caught the eye though as May was outstanding, scoring two tries that deserved crowds in attendance. The second was right out of the top drawer and is well worth another watch. What a finisher.

Sam Simmonds: The devastating Exeter Chiefs number eight hit the ground running with three tries as his side kicked off the defence of their Premiership title with a convincing victory against Harlequins at Twickenham Stoop. Simmonds ran a great line as he combined with his brother, Joe, to cross for the opening try in spectacular fashion midway through the opening half and continued to impress as the match wore on. He was eventually rewarded with the other tries during the second half and his director of rugby Rob Baxter admitted after the win that the hat-trick hero was one of several of the club’s players who are giving their all in a bid to catch England boss Eddie Jones’ attentions.

Newcastle Falcons: It’s fair to say only Dean Richards and his men were backing a Falcons victory at Bath before the pair’s opening game of the Premiership season. If people did predict Newcastle winning we didn’t see or hear it but credit where it is due, that was some result at the Rec as the north-east side threw down a marker in the 19-12 win. Back-row Gary Graham starred with a brace on a memorable afternoon for the Falcons that will have given them a huge slice of confidence before taking on a dangerous Sale Sharks side at Kingston Park on Friday.

Bulls: After suffering defeats in five of their six matches in this year’s Super Rugby tournament – which was cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic – the men from Pretoria brought in Jake White as their new director of rugby and the former Springboks World Cup winning coach made an immediate impact as he guided his team to a triumphant campaign in South Africa’s Super Rugby Unlocked competition. Although the tournament was severely affected by Covid-19 – the Lions’ matches against the Cheetahs and Pumas as well as the Sharks’ clash with the Stormers were called off due to the pandemic – the Bulls won’t be complaining as they registered enough wins to get their hands on the prize.

Oceans Apart film: If you haven’t seen the preview or read our review of ‘Oceans Apart: Greed, Betrayal and Pacific Island Rugby’, then we’d advise you do. Former Samoa international forward Dan Leo has made the film, which is available to buy by clicking on the video link, and it’s well worth a watch as he looks at how the islanders have been treated in the past and still are today. Leo makes our ‘hot’ list for doing something about this issue. We cannot praise him enough and are delighted that he enjoyed the Shawshank Redemption-style of review.

COLD AS ICE!

Harlequins: Although Exeter Chiefs were deserved winners at the Stoop, Harlequins fans will be disappointed with the performance of their team, particularly as it was on their home patch where they would have expected a more competitive performance. After finishing in sixth place in the Premiership standings last season, boss Paul Gustard would have been expecting improvement from his troops, but their performance in the season opener leaves a lot to be desired. They will be determined to make up for that dismal start to the campaign, and hope for a change of fortunes, when they face Northampton Saints at Franklin’s Gardens on Saturday. How they respond will be interesting.

Georgia: We always knew they would struggle against superior opposition in the Autumn Nations Cup but after Wales’ recent woes – in which they lost six successive Tests – the Lelos must have fancied their chances of causing an upset when the sides met at Parc y Scarlets on Saturday. It wasn’t to be, however, as they were never at the races and for the second successive week – after their defeat to England in their tournament opener – they failed to score points with Wales eventually sealing an 18-0 victory. It doesn’t get any easier for Levan Maisashvili and his charges as their next match is against Ireland and they can expect a backlash from Andy Farrell’s troops after their loss to England.

Ireland: While England were outstanding defensively at Twickenham, there are definitely plenty of concerns for Ireland after that Autumn Nations Cup defeat. Their decision-making to negate that onslaught of tacklers left a lot to be desired as they didn’t vary their attack enough. When they did look behind the rush defence via the boot, it resulted in a late try for Jacob Stockdale. Had they adopted the tactic earlier then the result might have been different at Twickenham, but hindsight is a wonderful thing and they must learn in-game how to solve problems.

Fiji’s absence: What a shame it is that we haven’t seen Fiji grace this inaugural tournament due to Covid-19 cases in their camp. First it was their game against France that was cancelled and last week saw the Italy clash become a casualty, with Scotland this week also being chalked down as a 28-0 win for the Scots. At present there are 29 cases in Fiji’s touring party with organisers saying that postponing games have been “unavoidable”. The sport would have loved to watch the likes of Josua Tuisova, Semi Radradra and the rest of their talent grace this Autumn Nations Cup.

Blow for Jake Polledri: Gloucester were a dealt a major blow when back-row Polledri suffered what they described as “a significant knee ligament injury” while playing for Italy in their Autumn Nations Cup defeat against Scotland in Florence. Polledri, who has won 19 caps for the Azzurri, was in outstanding form for his club last term, particularly when the Premiership campaign was played to a finish between August and October. It is therefore a real shame for the Cherry and Whites and Italy that we won’t see him for a significant period of time.

 

Bulls