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 roar past Sharks: The Kings of Joburg roared proudly on Saturday as they ran in six tries in a 38-14 thrashing of the Sharks. The Durbanites scored two late tries to give the final scoreline a hint of respectability but it was one-way traffic on the Highveld with the men in red getting the result despite being without star men Henco van Wyk and Quan Horn. The result saw them jump up to ninth position and with a game in hand still, they will eye up another climb this week.
Bulls bag Handre Pollard’s signature: Reports emerged on Friday that the Bulls had pulled off a major bit of business with the signing of the double World Cup winner, which was duly confirmed barely 24 hours later. The Springboks hero will return to the first professional team he ever represented in what is a major coup for Jake White and his charges as well as Rassie Erasmus. Pollard looked set to be off to Japan but the Bulls swooped and got their man.
Springboks: Handre Pollard’s Bulls deal ‘one of the biggest’ in the history of SA Rugby
High-flying Chiefs: It’s been a rampant start to the new season by the men from Waikato who notched up a hat-trick of wins in the tournament. After putting the Crusaders to the sword with a marvelous final quarter in Round Two of Super Rugby Pacific, Clayton McMillan’s charges brushed the Brumbies aside in their first Trans-Tasman encounter.
Munster snap up Chiefs boss: On the topic of the Chiefs and McMillan, the experienced head coach will be leaving New Zealand shores at the end of the season, after agreeing to take over the reins at Munster. It’s a massive coup for the Irish province as McMillan is one of the best club coaches in the business right now. It’s taken some time for Munster to find Graham Rowntree’s successor but the club’s fans will be feeling that it was well worth the wait.
Felix Jones’ shock return: Another shock appointment this week was that of former England assistant Jones, who is returning to the Springboks coaching team, rejoining Erasmus’ staff. The Irishman was linked with several vacancies across Europe including the Munster and Leicester Tigers’ jobs but ultimately the lure of a potential World Cup three-peat was too much to ignore. What a coup from the Boks.
The Ma’a Nonu show goes on: 42 and not out! The All Blacks legend’s career continues as he returns to RC Toulon as injury cover for the rest of the season and he could become the oldest player to feature in France’s top-flight competition.
Zebre hat-trick!: For the first time in seven years, the Italian URC outfit have won three games in a row as they completed their hat-trick defeating the lowly Dragons. Zebre have now won five matches in the URC this season, four more than they won in 2023/24, and have a 17-point buffer over the Welsh outfit at the bottom of the table. With the Italian club up for sale, they are positioning themselves well, showing clear signs of improvement for future investors.
Big away wins: There were two big results in the URC this weekend with Edinburgh and Ospreys claiming away victories on two challenging grounds to visit, Thomond Park and Scotstoun Stadium. Ospreys’ shock victory was secured courtesy of a clutch late Jack Walsh penalty while Edinburgh built a commanding 34-14 lead which was enough to survive a Munster comeback.
Springboks rake in the green: As many rugby unions struggle to make ends meet, SA Rugby provided a positive update in an internal newsletter. According to Rapport, SA Rugby chief executive Rian Oberholzer revealed that for the first time, sponsorships for the Springboks and the other national teams have exceeded the sum collected from their TV broadcasting deals. It is reported that SA Rugby has seen a 200% increase in certain cases.
COLD AS ICE!
Steven Kitshoff’s retirement: Every player wants to end their career on their own terms but only a select few are afforded that opportunity. Unfortunately, Steven Kitshoff is not one of them as the devasting loosehead prop was forced to call time on his career after a catastrophic neck injury that was a couple of millimetres away from taking his life. The red-headed prop has counted his blessings that he is still around to tell his story as he enjoyed an illustrious career, winning two Rugby World Cups, a Lions series and a URC title.
Independent disciplinary panel double standards: The French Rugby Federation has demanded answers from World Rugby after the double standards over the suspensions for Romain Ntamack and Garry Ringrose. The former was unable to include a club match in his suspension while the latter was. Simply put, it’s clear injustice and the French have every reason to be livid. No two cases are the same but one would be hard-pressed to find a set of instances quite so similar and yet have such contrasting outcomes. One hopes that World Rugby or the Six Nations act before it’s too late but don’t hold your breath.
Stade taking a dive: Ronan O’Gara let loose in the press conference after his side fell to yet another defeat in the Top 14, this time to the relegation-threatened Stade Francais. The result was not what irked the legendary Irish fly-half but rather the sending-off of his star forward Will Skelton. The Wallabies lock entered a ruck and seemingly made contact with Stade Francais’ flanker Romain Briatte who in O’Gara’s view took a Neymar-esque dive. “It’s a dark day for rugby,” a seething O’Gara added.
🗣️ “Unfortunately, today, we are at the Parc des Princes and we saw Neymar.”
– Ronan O’Gara accuses Stade Francais flanker Tanginoa Halaifonua of diving which resulted in a red card for Will Skelton. pic.twitter.com/jngW8igRAC
— Jared Wright (@jaredwright17) March 2, 2025
O’Gara under the pump?: Staying on the topic of the Irishman, the 47-year-old looks to be under pressure as La Rochelle slipped to ninth place in the Top 14 standings. It’s been a hotly contested season so far, highlighted by the fact that they are just four points adrift of fifth-placed Castres but the board surely can’t be pleased that O’Gara’s charges are 27 points behind Toulouse at the top of the table.
Relegation threatened Racing 92: Stuart Lancaster’s departure from the Parisian club has not borne any fruit as of yet as Racing 92 fell to yet another defeat this weekend going down 29-47 at home to Pau. The loss means that they are just one point above the relegation play-off spot with Perpignan hot on their tail, as are Vannes.
Mohamed Haouas: The former French international prop now has more prison sentences (4) than career red cards (3). His latest of the former was for drunk driving. A sad state of affairs.
Sotutu sees red: After being overlooked by the All Blacks for much of last year, Hoskins Sotutu has been dealt another blow in his hopes of returning to international rugby with a likely ban awaiting him. This after the Blues number eight was red-carded in his team’s 29-33 victory over the Hurricanes. Scott Robertson is reportedly a stickler for the basics and high tackles won’t sit well with him. It’s still early in the season and he can certainly make up for it but this is an early blow.
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/whos-hot-and-whos-not-springboks-make-shock-appointment-all-blacks-legends-career-continues-and-more-prison-time-for-france-forward
