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!
Red hot Ardie Savea: What a player, what a season. Savea was crowned Super Rugby Pacific Player of the Year with two rounds of the regular season still to play on Sunday, such has been his dominance. Savea has led Moana Pasifika to the brink of the play-offs and he was towering yet again in the win over the Blues on Saturday. A few hours after that victory, a Super Rugby Pacific statement was released, naming Savea the tournament’s best as he had established “an unassailable lead in voting”.
Darcy Graham’s point: He was one of the surprising omissions in Andy Farrell’s British and Irish Lions squad announcement, with Mack Hansen joining Tommy Freeman as the other right wing option. Now all the Scotland international can do is keep his head down and perform for club side Edinburgh and that’s exactly what he did on Friday with a hat-trick of tries in their win over Ulster. If there is a back-three injury before or during the tour, then surely Graham is the first cab off the rank.
George Ford on fire: Speaking of Lions snubs and Ford is another who might be feeling a little perplexed at not hearing his name read out by Ieuan Evans. Sale Sharks captain Ben Curry could not speak highly enough of his fly-half after their win over Bristol Bears, calling him the “standard bearer” in the squad, providing them with a “cheat code” against opposition. His 16-point haul was just the tip of the iceberg of his showing as he is arguably playing the best rugby of his career.
Danny Care’s farewell: It might not have been the fairytale finish in terms of scoring a match-winning try but it was still a winning end on home soil for Care as the Harlequins legend said goodbye to his beloved Stoop with a 24-22 win over Exeter Chiefs. Starting on the bench but wearing jersey number nine, Care came on for Will Porter for the closing stages and helped his side snatch a narrow Premiership victory. His decision to retire did come as a shock but what a Quins legend he is.
Antoine Dupont’s move: Who saw this coming? France star Antoine Dupont became a stakeholder in Major League Rugby (MLR) side Rugby FC Los Angeles this week after his company Ouest Coast decided to invest in the American outfit. What a boost for the MLR and USA rugby in general to have Dupont’s name attached to it. Great news.
Juarno Augustus and co: What a moment for the in-form Northampton Saints number eight as he was picked in South Africa’s latest alignment camp squad. Joining fellow uncapped players Vincent Tshituka, Ntokozo Makhaza, Renzo du Plessis, Neethling Fouche, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Marnus van der Merwe and Cobus Wiese in the 54-player group. Augustus was excellent in Northampton Saints’ recent Champions Cup semi-final win over Leinster and will be playing for Ulster in the URC next season.
Bath are top dogs: Johann van Graan was delighted with his side’s attitude in their 43-15 victory over old foes Leicester Tigers on Saturday as they extended their lead at the Premiership summit to 15 points. In a top-of-the-table clash, Leicester were blown away in the second half at the Recreation Ground in an eventual seven-try success. Bath are hot favourites for the domestic title if they can continue in this vein but before that there’s a Challenge Cup final this coming Friday.
COLD AS ICE!
Cornal Hendricks news: Such sad news from South Africa last week as former Springboks, Boland, Cheetahs and Bulls wing Hendricks died following a suspected heart attack, aged 37. The outpouring of grief from all around the rugby world summed up what a loss this is as Hendricks, who had been forced into retirement with a serious heart condition in 2016 but returned to action in 2019 for the Bulls, made an impact with all he played with and against. The Bulls did him proud on Saturday.
Turmoil in Wales: The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) have confirmed the Scarlets and Ospreys are still yet to sign up to the new Professional Rugby Agreement (PRA25), and have now issued a two-year notice on the current deal. This could trigger a merger of two clubs as the WRU shifts focus to a three-team model in the coming years. Understandably, this has sparked outrage in Wales, particularly after Cardiff entered administration with the Union taking over the club. Going forward, the four unions will not be evenly funded, the WRU has confirmed, which has just added fuel to the fire.
Evan Roos setback: To not be named in a 54-player squad for a Springboks alignment camp is a blow to the Stormers number eight and with the get-together mostly involving off-field work, it does not appear to be an injury-related absence. While this snub would stun most countries, it is staggering the talent that is named in his place as Augustus is joined by Cameron Hanekom, Jasper Wiese and Jean-Luc du Preez, with even Kwagga Smith and Siya Kolisi capable of filling in at number eight.
Ulster finish 14th: From finishing sixth last campaign to ending up in 14th place at the close of the regular season will not make for pretty reading for Ulster fans, as their heavy loss to Edinburgh and results elsewhere saw them drop down the final standings. Comparing last term to this sees them 16 points worse off, but it’s in fact Munster who are the biggest URC fallers as they dropped 17 points from last season’s tally.
Dreadful Dragons: It was a tough season for the URC basement-dwellers, who fell to one final defeat on Saturday, going down to the Bulls in Pretoria. The Dragons end the season with just one victory in the league, losing on 17 occasions. They didn’t fare any better in the Challenge Cup either, winning just one of their four matches.
READ MORE: Welsh rugby on brink of civil war with one region set to be cut
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/whos-hot-and-whos-not-red-hot-ardie-savea-bi-lions-snubs-springboks-calls-and-turmoil-in-wales
