Who’s hot and who’s not!

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!

Champions Cup away team winners: It was a great weekend for Racing 92, Bristol Bears, Munster and Edinburgh, who all picked up victories on the road against Harlequins, Clermont, Sale Sharks and Connacht. Racing produced arguably the performance of the round as they delivered a superb attacking display en route to a 49-7 triumph over Harlequins at Twickenham Stoop while it was a happy return to Connacht for Pat Lam as Bristol Bears bagged a 27-18 victory at The Sportsground. Elsewhere, Munster were trailing by 19 points after 25 minutes against Clermont at the Stade Marcel Michelin but didn’t panic and launched a stunning fightback before clinching a 39-31 win. It was a similar story for Edinburgh who, despite being 12-0 down at half-time against Sale, never surrendered and eventually prevailed 16-15.

England’s luck of the draw: Eddie Jones will certainly be a happy head coach after the draw was made for the 2023 Rugby World Cup. They were paired with Argentina and Japan, which on paper makes them comfortable favourites to top the group and reach the quarter-finals in France. Although the Brave Blossoms are an improving nation and the Pumas recently defeated New Zealand for the first time – plus the issue of form of the respective teams in three years’ time – the Red Rose will surely be content with their lot. It’s certainly not the challenge of facing New Zealand or indeed the ‘Pool of Death’ which contains current world champions South Africa, Ireland and Scotland.

Alfie Barbeary’s star continues to rise: England do not lack for talent in most positions but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Wasps starlet fast-tracked into the international squad for the Six Nations. Barbeary has already spent time in camp, joining them for the Autumn Nations Cup campaign, but he could well feature in the upcoming tournament. Against Montpellier, the number eight, who has played most of his age-grade rugby at hooker, starred, scoring two tries and setting up another as the hosts claimed a 33-14 triumph. He’s some prospect.

Sam Cane and Michael Hooper awards: It was a good week for New Zealand and Australia’s captains as both openside flankers were crowned as the best players in their respective countries. Cane won the the Kelvin R. Tremain Memorial Trophy at the New Zealand Rugby awards and Hooper walked off with Rugby Australia’s John Eales Medal for the third time after also winning that award in 2013 and 2016. Although the All Blacks and Wallabies delivered indifferent performances during a truncated Test programme in 2020, back-row duo Cane and Hooper played consistently well on a consistent basis and were deserved winners of their respective gongs. Congratulations gentlemen!

Lions: The men from Johannesburg broke a three-year Currie Cup win drought against the Sharks in Johannesburg on Saturday, keeping the visitors try-less during a convincing 27-12 triumph. Scores from Courtnall Skosan and Tiaan Swanepoel got the job done for Ivan van Rooyen’s charges while Elton Jantjies finished with an 11-point haul courtesy of three penalties and a conversion. The win means the Lions are the only unbeaten team after four rounds of the competition and they are now in second place on the table – six points adrift of the Bulls, who occupy top spot by virtue of all tournament points from Super Rugby Unlocked – which they won – being carried over to the Currie Cup.

COLD AS ICE!

Champions Cup farce: This season’s tournament is arguably already tainted after four games were cancelled due to a number of Covid-19 cases. The biggest was the fixture between Toulouse and defending champions Exeter Chiefs after a number of people tested positive at the West Country club. That also had a knock-on effect at Glasgow Warriors, who faced the Chiefs the previous weekend and were duly forced to self-isolate. Similarly, Bath had to forfeit their away match at La Rochelle following a positive test at the Scarlets. The encounter between the Welsh region and Toulon was set to go ahead but the French team withdrew late on. Primarily, we hope that everyone affected by this awful disease gets better quickly, but there is also pressure on tournament organisers EPCR, who have seen the competition descend into a farce.

Alun Wyn Jones blow: The Wales captain has been sidelined with a knee injury sustained during his team’s Autumn Nations Cup victory over Italy earlier this month and it looks like it is going to be touch and go whether he will be fit for his country’s Six Nations opener against Ireland in Cardiff early next year. The 35-year-old has already missed the Ospreys’ first two Challenge Cup matches and the region’s head coach Toby Booth has indicated that Jones will be out of action for “weeks not days”. That news will be worrisome for Wales boss Wayne Pivac as his side has struggled since he took charge of the team and losing Jones would be a setback for the coach and the rest of the side.

Ulster’s ill-discipline: They have only themselves to blame for losing their Champions Cup clash against Gloucester at Kingsholm as they were on their way to victory before the home side stole the result courtesy of a try in stoppage time from replacement fly-half George Barton. Ulster’s defence was at sixes and sevens at that stage and it was not surprising as they were down to 14 players, after Ethan McIlroy was yellow-carded for a deliberate knock-on which also resulted in a second penalty try conceded. McIlroy was the third Ulsterman to spend time in the bin, after Rob Herring and Alan O’Connor were carded in quick succession in the first half, which meant they played with 13 men for nine minutes and O’Connor’s indiscretion saw them leak that first penalty try. Coach Dan McFarland will have a simple message this week.

Danny Cipriani’s shock departure: One of Gloucester’s star players has left the Cherry and Whites with immediate effect after deciding he needed a change of scene. Cipriani was outstanding in 2018/19, guiding the Premiership heavyweights to the play-offs thanks to a series of brilliant performances, but the fly-half has struggled to fire over the past year or so. He has also suffered some heartache in his personal life following the death of close friend Caroline Flack and you can understand why the talented pivot needed some time away from the game.

Harlequins: Although it’s still early days in the Champions Cup, the Premiership outfit’s campaign seems to be dead and buried after that home defeat against Racing 92. Although the Parisian outfit were worthy winners, Quins were never at the races and they came off second best in most facets of play which will be a concern for their head honcho, Paul Gustard. Racing came out firing from the outset and were up 20-0 at half-time thanks to tries from Teddy Thomas and Kevin le Geun and they continued after the interval with their bonus point secured with half an hour left to play. Gustard has admitted he detected something was wrong with his troops judging from their warm-up and they will now have to go back to the drawing board to fix those problems ahead of this weekend’s Premiership clash with Sale Sharks in Salford.