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!
Zebre Parma win again: It’s now back-to-back United Rugby Championship wins on the road for Zebre Parma after they followed up the victory at Ulster with an impressive result at Edinburgh. Friday’s success was thoroughly deserved and the three-try success puts then on 20 points on the table, 12 above last-placed Dragons. It’s great for Italian rugby to have two teams on song in the URC and long may it continue.
Matt Sherratt backed: Opportunity knocks for the Cardiff coach to show his credentials as he takes over from the outing Warren Gatland as interim Wales head coach. It was a swift appointment from the Welsh Rugby Union as Gatland’s exit and Rob Howley stepping aside for the remaining three games was confirmed. Sherratt’s first task in the Six Nations is a daunting trip to Dublin but he’s already made decent additions to his squad with Gareth Anscombe, Jarrod Evans and Max Llewellyn added so Wales fans should be pleased with the early signs.
South African derby winners: Saturday’s URC action got underway with back-to-back South African derbies and it was the Lions and Sharks who came out on top, beating the Stormers and Bulls respectively. The Lions were well worthy of their win as they remain in touch with the play-off chasers, with two games in hand also helping their cause. The Sharks meanwhile close to within a point of the Bulls who sit third on the table as they weathered not having several Springboks such as Eben Etzebeth and Siya Kolisi and came away with a maximum.
Super Rugby Pacific opening round: What a hotly contested first round of the new season that was. No team ran away with any game and the table proves that as there was less than 12 points between every match. After defeating the reigning champions, the Chiefs lead the way on points difference from the Crusaders, Brumbies, Western Force and Waratahs, with the latter two winning their games by one point.
Key re-signings in Ireland: It’s contract season around the game at the moment and while it is highly unlikely that Ireland stars will go overseas it is always a boost for province and Ireland when they put pen to paper. Outside centre Garry Ringrose and lock/flanker Tadhg Beirne were two of those to do so this past week for Leinster and Munster respectively as they join the growing list of key men re-signing.
COLD AS ICE!
Injured Ireland duo: Cormac Izuchukwu (ankle) and Iain Henderson (knee) are out of Ireland’s Six Nations clash with Wales and will rehab at Ulster while there remains concerns over Caelan Doris and Ronan Kelleher. While Ireland will continue to monitor the key duo, unfortunately for Izuchukwu and Henderson they will have to watch Saturday’s game from home as six players replace them in the squad.
Warren Gatland exit: It feels like longer but it’s been less than a week since it was confirmed by the Welsh Rugby Union that Gatland had left his post. A 14-Test losing streak and a disappointing performance against Italy made the New Zealander’s position untenable as he parted ways with Wales, ending his second term at the helm. It’s obviously not been a successful tenure and while problems run deeper than just the head coach job, change was necessary and it’ll now be interesting to see how the team responds under Sherratt and who takes over after him.
Edinburgh miss chance: How costly will that home loss to Zebre Parma be to Edinburgh come the end of the season. They had a chance to consolidate their position among the chasing pack for a top-eight spot but it fell by the wayside as they slumped to a 22-17 defeat. Coach Sean Everitt cut a dejected figure in the box at full-time but he can have no complaints about the result, with Zebre deserving of this victory.
More woe for Racing 92: What a nightmare season it has been for the once Top 14 giants. A 30-25 loss at home to RC Vannes saw them plummet to a new low as they now sit just three points above that side at the bottom of the table. The departure of Stuart Lancaster a couple of weeks ago looked inevitable and with Owen Farrell’s injury issues limiting his game time the prospect of relegation is growing by the week.
Bulls backs struggle: It was a poor performance from the Bulls backline in their home defeat to the Sharks. On paper it is a strong looking group of players, but Willie le Roux struggled at fly-half and those outside him were also out of sorts as the men from Durban managed to seal a priceless win. Questions are now being asked of who should wear 10 for Jake White’s side as the Le Roux experiment isn’t working.
READ MORE: Six Nations Round Three: Fixtures, kick-off times, referees and global TV channels
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/whos-hot-and-whos-not-bulls-issues-laid-bare-after-failed-experiment-while-opportunity-knocks-for-wales-coach-in-wake-of-necessary-warren-gatland-exit
