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!

Prize for England, praise for France:  Few gave such a depleted France side much chance of upsetting a first-choice England on their home patch at Twickenham, but what a performance it was from Fabien Galthie’s men on Sunday. The passage before half-time when they held the English out was remarkable and must have delighted defence coach Shaun Edwards in the stands and their supporters watching at home. But ultimately it was to be England who won in extra-time, putting the seal on another trophy in 2020. While the effort was lacking in attacking ideas and seemed low risk throughout, it’s hard to argue with silverware in the cabinet. They are Autumn Nations Cup champions.

Nemani Nadolo and Fiji: After watching the earlier rounds of the Autumn Nations Cup from the sidelines – due to 29 coronavirus cases in the squad – Fiji were champing at the bit to be part of the action. They eventually took to the field against Georgia at Murrayfield on Saturday and delivered an outstanding attacking display as they outscored the Lelos six tries to three in a deserved 38-24 victory. Leading the charge was Nadolo, who was playing in his first Test for the Pacific Islanders since 2018, after reversing his decision to retire from the international game, and he won’t regret changing his mind as he helped himself to a hat-trick of tries. Talk about an international comeback from the wing.

Sam Bedlow: Bristol’s squad has been stretched more than most at the start of 2020/21 and against Northampton they appeared on course for a second loss this season. They were 17-8 down going into the final eight minutes but a converted Piers O’Conor score put them back into contention. The weather conditions were simply abysmal, however, while Northampton were managing the game well in the latter stages, but the Bears have incredible spirit under head coach Pat Lam. They are also very well coached and they moved themselves into a position to win after being awarded a penalty. It was still a tough kick, though, especially for someone like Sam Bedlow, who has very little – if any – goal-kicking experience at the top level, but the stand-in fly-half showed excellent composure and technique to snatch the win in the last minute.

Exeter Chiefs: The Devonians have started as they finished last term and were once again impressive as they secured their third successive victory in the 2020/21 Premiership campaign. Rob Baxter’s charges were given a stern test early on by an energetic Leicester Tigers side but their quality eventually told. From 13-7 behind, the Chiefs scored 28 unanswered points and went away with a 35-13 triumph for their third bonus-point success in a row. With what Exeter achieved in 2019/20, you’d have forgiven them for starting this season slowly, particularly since that campaign only ended in late October, but they’ve remained focused, which is a huge credit to Baxter, his coaches and the players.

Dragons: The Welsh region are made of sterner stuff under Dean Ryan and they battled to an outstanding 23-22 win at Glasgow Warriors on Saturday. The Dragons were stubborn throughout, but they were also clinical and played some excellent rugby, as evidenced by Jared Rosser’s superb score. Fly-half Sam Davies also kicked well, ending the match with 13 points as Ryan’s men secured their third victory in six games. It is also their second successive win on the road and suggests that they are very much moving in the right direction.

COLD AS ICE!

Argentine trio’s social media posts: It has been a sorry week for Argentinian rugby, but also the sport in general after horrific tweets surfaced from three Pumas players, Guido Petti, Santiago Socino and Pablo Matera. The UAR’s muddled decision-making certainly didn’t help, initially suspending the offending players and sacking the captain before rescinding the punishments. The governing body described the posts as “imprudent and immature,” seemingly taking the opportunity to play down what’s a serious issue, and that approach is awful. The social media posts were racist and xenophobic and brought shame to Argentine rugby, yet two days after stripping flank Matera of the captaincy, he was accepted back into the fold. Argentina head coach Mario Ledesma is certain his players have changed, but there has to be consequences for their actions. Disciplinary proceedings are, apparently, ongoing but it is currently being handled rather appallingly by the UAR.

Scotland: Much more was expected from Gregor Townsend’s outfit as they looked to end a Dublin drought that stretches back a decade. After ending another rotten streak away to Wales in the Six Nations, confidence was high in the Scots’ ranks, but they fell away in the second period in disappointing style. After an impressive first 40, Scotland went into the break down by just two points at 11-9, but returned for the resumption a different team, eventually succumbing to a 31-16 loss which condemned them to fourth place in the Autumn Nations Cup. One hopes for Scottish fans these flashes of quality aren’t another false dawn and, to the side’s credit, there are positives upon which to build.

Lukhan Salakaia-Loto: The Wallabies’ replacement second-row can have no complaints after he received a red card for a high tackle on Argentina flanker Santiago Grondona midway through the second period of the teams’ 16-16 Tri Nations draw in Sydney on Saturday. After watching television replays, referee Angus Gardner was left with little choice but to give Salakaia-Loto his marching orders as the lock made direct contact to Grondona’s head with his shoulder. There was no mitigating factors for Salakaia-Loto, who will be kicking himself as his offence is similar to the ones from his Wallabies team-mate Lachie Swinton and All Blacks front-row Ofa Tu’ungafasi, who both received red cards and suspensions for their indiscretions which occurred during Australia’s 24-22 victory at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane last month.

Brandon Thomson: We didn’t mention the fly-half’s last-minute miss above simply because it deserved a section of its own. Glasgow were 23-17 behind with the clock in the red but appeared to have snatched an underserved triumph when Johnny Matthews burrowed over from close range. To make it even more galling for the Dragons, it was scored close to the uprights, giving Thomson what looked a simple conversion. However, it is never easy, especially when the pressure is on, and his effort hit the post, sparking jubilation amongst the visitors’ ranks.

Rugby not playing ball: It’s been a topic under discussion throughout the Autumn Nations Cup and it was perhaps fitting that Sunday’s final was the clearest example yet of two teams trying desperately to play their game out of possession. Both England and France, more so the Twickenham hosts, chose to kick for territory, even on their own 10-metre, petrified of being penalised at the breakdown. That brings zero joy and no interest to the sport as defences are clearly beating attack hands down at the moment, which simply must be addressed. There was a moment in the final when the 2,000 fans, who were at their first live game in months, booed a passage of play. That says it all.