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!

Lions coaches: What a moment for John Dalziel, Simon Easterby, John Fogarty, Andrew Goodman and Richard Wigglesworth after they were all announced as being part of Andy Farrell’s coaching ticket for this year’s British and Irish Lions tour to Australia. The quintet were applauded onto the stage at the Lions coaching announcement and were beaming with pride after receiving one of the ultimate accolades in their field. Now, their focus will be on making it a successful tenure and ultimately winning the series against the Wallabies later this year.

Moana Pasifika claim historic victory: Tana Umaga’s troops were overwhelming underdogs ahead of their clash with the Crusaders in Christchurch on Saturday, but after 80 minutes the visitors emerged as victors following an outstanding performance. Moana held the upper hand from the outset and had a deserved 28-10 lead at half-time with inspirational skipper Ardie Savea leading the way with a brace of tries. Moana Pasifika continued to dominate after the break and eventually sealed a historic 45-29 win over Super Rugby’s most successful side.

Henry Pollock: He might have been on the losing side, but boy did Pollock continue to turn heads with his performance for Northampton Saints against Sale Sharks on Friday. His solo try was out of the top drawer as he displayed all of his skills to chip over the top and dot down. This Premiership try came after he crossed twice for England on his international debut, with the future looking bright for the 20-year-old.

🦁 ‘Andy Farrell, are you watching?’ – Henry Pollock makes Lions statement with stunning try for Saints

Sevens winners: World Rugby’s Sevens Series headed to Hong Kong this past weekend, and it was a memorable tournament for Argentina and New Zealand in the men’s and women’s competition, respectively. Argentina won their first ever Hong Kong title when they ground out a 12-7 victory over France, while the Black Ferns won the women’s event for the third straight year by clinching a 26-19 triumph over Australia.

Ange Capuozzo: You’d be hard pressed to find a more exciting player on the planet right now. If it’s not for Italy, Capuozzo is getting bums off seats whilst playing for Toulouse, and he was at it again against Pau in their Top 14 55-10 victory on Saturday. The Azzurri flyer grabbed a hat-trick of tries with this effort below, showing how you cannot afford to switch off for one second when he’s looking for defensive weakness.

Kini Naholo powers to hat-trick: The Hurricanes delivered an outstanding attacking performance as they sealed an emphatic 57-12 win over the Waratahs in Wellington. As the scoreline suggests, the home side dominated for long periods of the game and eventually outscored their opponents by eight tries to two. Speedster Naholo led the way with his superb finishing skills as he scored a well-taken hat-trick after gaining 40 metres from nine runs, which included four clean breaks and nine defenders beaten. Naholo looks unstoppable at the moment.

Seb Atkinson: The Gloucester youngster sent a message to England head coach Steve Borthwick not to forget him ahead of the mid-year Test action as his hat-trick in Gloucester’s victory over Bristol Bears pushed his name forward. With England having struggled for options somewhat in the midfield of late, Atkinson’s showing at Kingsholm will do him no harm at all as he looks to play against Argentina in July.

Damian McKenzie deal: The All Blacks star has committed his future to New Zealand Rugby and the Chiefs until 2029 after agreeing a long-term deal on Sunday. The fly-half is now locked in until not just the Rugby World Cup but also the British and Irish Lions series when the tourists head to the country. The deal ends speculation linking the versatile back with a move abroad, and he’s understandably thrilled.

🖊️ All Blacks: Damian McKenzie rejects ‘high levels of interest’ ending speculation with MAMMOTH deal

Evergreen Ma’a Nonu: The All Blacks legend is not done just yet. At the age of 42 years, 10 months, and 8 days, the great centre came off the bench to become the oldest player to ever play in the Top 14. Nonu enjoyed a 21-minute shift and threw a wonderful skip pass out to Jiuta Wainiqolo to score, a player 16 years his junior. Having joined Toulon as a medical joker, there was a chance that Nonu would not play for the club again but the New Zealand legend showed that he still has the goods with a handful of bulldozing trademark carries for the cause.

Keagan Johannes steers Bulls to victory: Jake White’s charges put Zebre to the sword in an impressive showing at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday with makeshift fly-half Johannes producing a man-of-the-match display. The result sees the Bulls keep the pace in the top three of the United Rugby Championship standings while they flew the flag as the only South African team to notch up a victory over the weekend.

Springboks’ new sponsors: SA Rugby revealed two massive sponsorship deals this week, with FNB taking centre stage on the jersey this year, with Pick n Pay featuring on the back. The former is reportedly worth R160 million a year, with the new partnerships seeing SA Rugby rake in more from sponsorships than broadcasting for the first time since the game went professional. In short, the Springboks are flush.

Broken thermostat

Sacha blows hot and cold: Stormers star Feinberg-Mngomezulu hit the ground sprinting with a man-of-the-match performance on his return against Scarlets on his return from injury last week. However, his second match was less successful as his excellent overall showing was marred by a moment of stupidity as he took Ulster wing Rob Baloucoune out of the ball. It was a mindless and costly error as Ulster scored two tries while he was in the sin-bin as the hosts took the lead for the first time in the game after trailing 17-0 after seven minutes.

COLD AS ICE!

Lions humbled: There have been dark days in the history of Lions rugby, but their first 40 minutes against Glasgow Warriors certainly has to crack the top five as Cash van Rooyen’s side leaked six tries and were down 42-0 at the break. It was a brutal display of ruthlessness from the defending URC champions as they tore the Lions to shreds at Scotstoun. Franco Smith’s men failed to score a single point in the second half, but by then the damage was well and truly done as the Jo’burgers’ Race to Eight hopes took a huge blow going into the European break.

Sharks fall short: A Springboks-laden Sharks outfit fell to a disappointing three-point defeat at the hands of a youthful Leinster team on Saturday in Durban. John Plumtree’s men lacked the keys to unlock the Jacques Nienaber-coached defence. It was a poor showing from the star-studded squad that still remains in a strong position for a play-off spot despite lacking any form of consistency in their performances.

🦈 Sharks v Leinster: Five takeaways as the Jacques Nienaber effect ‘exposes’ Springboks-laden hosts’ soft underbelly

Waisea Nayacelevu signing: About as brief a stint at a club as we can recall as the Fiji centre departs the Ospreys after just over a month, without playing a game. The club’s statement read: “The Ospreys and Waisea Nayacalevu have reached a mutual agreement to end his short-term playing contract with the club. Waisea signed in February and was due to remain with the club until June, but due to personal reasons, it has been mutually agreed to end his contract with immediate effect. We wish him the best for his future endeavours.” Hopefully, everything is OK with the centre, who had a similar playing period at Premiership side Sale Sharks recently, and he returns to action in the near future.

La Rochelle woes continue: That’s now seven losses and a draw in their last eight outings in all competitions for La Rochelle as it’s now panic stations ahead of their Champions Cup clash with Munster. In this kind of poor form, suddenly the fixture at Stade Marcel Deflandre does not look the foregone conclusion many might have predicted. The latest Top 14 loss came at Clermont as they now sit 10th in the league.

Stormers: The third South African outfit to feature in our not list, the Stormers will be kicking themselves after letting a 17-0 lead against Ulster slip from their grasp in an eventual 38-34 loss. A victory would have provided the Capetonians with a much-needed springboard up the URC table, but instead, moments of mindless acts from Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Damian Willemse and Neethling Fouche cost them the result. Feinberg-Mngomezulu was shown yellow while Fouche copped a red, but all three offences seriously impacted the Stormers’ hopes.

No Wales representation: Not hugely surprising considering their dismal run of results and coaching turnover of late, but disappointing nonetheless for the country that will have no coaching representation on the Lions tour. Some have pointed to the absence of Neil Jenkins as kicking coach or Adam Jones in the scrum department as being shock snubs, but one always felt Farrell would pick Fogarty in the latter role.

READ MORE: ‘Lucky not to get hurt’ – Leinster duo slammed for ‘reckless’ celebrations after Sharks win

Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/whos-hot-and-whos-not-lions-coaches-outstanding-moana-pasifika-and-hat-trick-heroes-delight-as-south-africa-trio-come-up-short