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!
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu shines for the Stormers: The Springboks playmaker delivered another outstanding performance as the Stormers clinched a deserved 56-5 triumph over Benetton in Cape Town on Saturday night. The 23-year-old led the Stormers‘ attacking onslaught as he showed off his vast array of skills, and the Italian outfit’s defenders battled to keep him at bay. He was involved in the build-up of several of the Stormers’ tries and also crossed the whitewash himself while also impressing with his goal-kicking. Feinberg-Mngomezulu eventually finished with a 25-point haul courtesy of his five-pointer, six conversions, a penalty and a well-taken drop goal.
Hurricanes end Canberra drought: The ‘Canes were in fine form this weekend, scoring five tries to defeat the Brumbies 29-35, claiming their first victory in Canberra since 2017. The win was also a first for a New Zealand team in Australia this season. Winger Kini Nahaolo was particularly brilliant for the Hurricanes, scoring two tries, beating 11 defenders and gained over 120 running metres.
Welsh regions’ victories: After countless lows for Welsh rugby recently, three out of the country’s four regions had something to smile about after Round 11 of the URC. On Friday night, Cardiff continued with their fine recent form when they clinched a hard-fought 26-21 home victory over Munster before the Ospreys cruised to a 57-24 triumph in their backyard over their countrymen, the Dragons, who are currently at the bottom of the table. However, the result of the round was the Scarlets’ 35-22 bonus-point win over table-toppers Leinster at Parc y Scarlets later on Saturday. The Welsh outfit were deserved winners as they outscored Leinster four tries to three to hand the Irish heavyweights only their second defeat of the season.
Gloucester and Leicester roar: The Lions and Tigers had plenty of reason to celebrate as they delivered outstanding performances which secured them emphatic victories over the weekend. On Saturday, Leicester had too much firepower for Harlequins as they outscored them by six tries to one as they sealed an emphatic 40-7 win at Welford Road. And on Sunday, Gloucester were in a rampant mood at their Kingsholm headquarters as they thrashed Exeter Chiefs 79-17 with the home side running in a whopping 13 tries in the process.
Four-peat complete: England continued their domination of the Women’s Six Nations, claiming a fourth consecutive Grand Slam title with a 43-42 win over France at Allianz Stadium on Saturday. The two sides headed into the fixture having won their previous four games, but ultimately it was the Red Roses who emerged victorious courtesy of an Abby Dow brace.
Lions scrum-half hopefuls in fine form: There were excellent performances over the weekend from two of the scrum-halves who hope to be included in the British & Irish Lions squad for their upcoming tour to Australia. On Saturday, England’s Alex Mitchell delivered a brilliant performance in his side’s 48-31 triumph over Bristol Bears as he scored a superb try and was involved in several others at Franklin’s Gardens. Meanwhile, Wales’ Tomos Williams also gave Lions head coach Andy Farrell a timely reminder of his ability as he also crossed the whitewash and walked off with the official man-of-the-match award in Gloucester’s thrashing of Exeter at Kingsholm.
South African URC teams: A full house for the South African sides this weekend, with the Bulls setting the tone on Friday evening, defeating the Glasgow Warriors 19-26 at Scotstoun Stadium. The Lions backed that up with a 26-7 win over Connacht on Saturday before the Stormers thrashed Benetton 56-5. While the Sharks were poor in the first half against Ulster, they came from 19-0 down to clinch a 22-19 win, becoming the first South African team to win in Belfast.
SARU gives update to South Africa’s four major franchises on their United Rugby Championship status
COLD AS ICE!
Irish sides in URC: While it was a great weekend for the Welsh and South Africa, the same was not true for the teams from the Emerald Isle in Round 16 of the United Rugby Championship as they all finished on the losing side. Munster was the first Irish team to bite the dust in their loss to Cardiff on Friday, before there was further misery for Connacht, Leinster and Ulster on Saturday. We’ve already mentioned Leinster’s shock defeat to the Scarlets and it was a similar story for Connacht as they lost 26-7 to the Lions in Johannesburg while Ulster raced into a 19-0 lead against the Sharks at the Kingspan Stadium before going off the rails and eventually suffered a narrow 22-19 loss. It’s the first time since 2015 that all four of the Irish teams have lost in the same round of action.
Stephen Donald wrong: While everybody is entitled to their opinion, the former All Blacks playmaker certainly put his foot in his mouth when he said “the URC competition is probably a low, a very, very low level compared to Super Rugby.” Donald’s criticism was aimed at making a point regarding Jordie Barrett’s sabbatical at Leinster, who he said will have to prove himself again before he can return to the All Blacks’ starting line-up. There has been plenty of reaction to those comments, with Glasgow Warriors head coach Franco Smith disagreeing with Donald and saying he cannot make a comparison between the two tournaments as he has only been involved in one of the two.
Benetton’s capitulation in Cape Town: While the Stormers thoroughly deserved their triumph over the men from Treviso, it’s fair to say few people would have predicted that the men from the Cape would have registered such a huge margin of victory. Benetton came into this encounter in a confident mood as they were in fifth place in the URC standings after notching a fine win over the Lions in Johannesburg the previous week. However, Marco Bortolami’s troops hardly put up a fight as the Stormers eventually outscored them seven tries to one, and their defeat sees them drop to eighth in the table.
Eben Etzebeth’s late withdrawal for the Sharks: The Springboks’ most capped player was named as the Sharks’ captain for their clash against Ulster at the Kingspan Stadium on Saturday, but supporters of the Durban-based outfit were disappointed when the behemoth second-row was forced to withdraw due to illness shortly before kick-off. What made Etzebeth’s withdrawal frustrating for Sharks fans is the fact that he only returned to action in their previous match against Edinburgh on April 18 after being on the sidelines since December last year as he was battling recurring concussion issues and a hamstring strain suffered at a Boks alignment camp.
Exeter put to the sword: It was a forgettable visit to Kingsholm on Sunday for the Chiefs, who shipped 13 tries in their defeat to Gloucester. Another poor result for Rob Baxter’s side in what has been an underwhelming season.
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/whos-hot-and-whos-not-sensational-springboks-rookie-ex-all-blacks-low-level-comment-and-misery-for-irish-teams
