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!
Antoine Dupont and Toulouse: One of his nicknames is the Martian and it’s clear to see why, Dupont is out of this world and pulled the strings from the base yet again. It was another weekend Toulouse put 60 points on their opponents this time Exeter was on the receiving end of a 21-64 scoreline where the French giants were scoring tries for free. It was a seriously good outing and one that issued a stark reminder that Toulouse will be extremely difficult to beat.
Sale Sharks: The Premiership side kicked off the weekend with an absolute bang, putting Racing 92 to the sword with a comprehensive 29-7 win at home. Four tries on the night was good enough to put the French outfit away while Rob du Preez rubbed salt in the wounds with his boot. Alex Sanderson will be pleased with the effort as Ben Curry and Tom Roebuck stood out, with the former hailing his in-form wide man.
Northampton: Heading to Loftus Versfeld is typically a nightmare for any side but the team who will be having bad dreams after Saturday is the Bulls. Credit must go to the Premiership champions who were dominated in quite a few facets of play but they hung on and took the game away from the hosts when possible to win 30-21. After being written off by many, this victory will give the Saints plenty of confidence.
Wallace Sititi: The star back-row added yet another award to his mantlepiece from 2024 after he was named All Black of the Year at New Zealand Rugby’s awards last week. It is richly deserved as Sititi went from an uncapped talent to one of the first names on Scott Robertson’s teamsheet through his strong carries and warrior-like defence. The rookie will only get better from here as his future looks extremely bright.
Marcus Smith and Quins: The fly-half signed a bumper contract during the week, keeping him at the Stoop until 2028 in a massive fillip for the Premiership side. Smith marked the new deal with a rampant Champions Cup victory over a shoddy Stormers side which finished 53-16. It was some performance from Harlequins headlined by a hat-trick apiece for winger Cadan Murley and number eight Alex Dombrandt.
Handre Pollard and Leicester: The Springbok fly-half relished playing against his compatriots as he produced a masterclass from pivot with an impressive 17-point hail that included a try and a try assist. Under Pollard’s control, Leicester made Shark mince with a 56-17 victory on the night. It was an outing that reminded the tournament of the Tigers’ pedigree and boss Michael Cheika was understandably delighted.
Jordie Barrett: Another week in Leinster colours and another try for the talented All Black. Barrett’s impact in Dublin has been instant and even wearing number 15 on his back the superstar showed immense quality running the ball back at Clermont. In the end, it was not the most convincing win with a modest 15-7 scoreline. It remains unclear whether the New Zealander will remain at full-back or he will be moved into the midfield. Regardless, Barrett is already making the most of his time with the Irish giants and what a luxury to have him as a utility option.
COLD AS ICE!
Second-string sides: Travel has long been an issue in the Champions Cup for South African teams and again this resulted in the shipping of a LOT of points at the weekend. Both the weakened line-ups of the Sharks and Stormers took 50 points apiece and to make matters worse the full-strength Bulls stumbled over their own laces. In fact, the only South African side to win a game this weekend was the Lions. It is not a good look and something simply must change, as has been touched on by Sharks head coach John Plumtree and Stormers boss John Dobson.
Munster woes: A disappointing start to the season continues for the Irish province, who were hugely disappointing in their 16-14 defeat to Castres in France. Surprising changes in their coaching department have not had the desired effect and their error rate was sky high, option taking poor and set-piece struggled against a Castres side that had three players sin-binned. Compounding their woes was the sight of Craig Casey, Peter O’Mahony and Thaakir Abrahams leaving the field injured. Munster need to bounce back quickly as they face Ulster away next.
Sekou Macalou: To be frank the horrific tackle from the Frenchman could have been a red in any era, let alone the current state of affairs around head contact. After being tripped by the Stade Francais flanker, Ivan van Zyl of Saracens dived on a ball and Macalou followed suit but made heavy contact to the scrum-half’s head. It was nasty, it was not necessary. We aren’t even sure what he was planning because even if he didn’t make head contact he still would have been penalised for diving on the player. We sincerely hope the suspension fits the crime.
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/whos-hot-and-whos-not-antoine-dupont-out-of-this-world-while-another-horrific-tackle-clouds-the-weekend
