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!
Spain: A week of dreams for Spanish rugby with the senior men’s side claiming their win over Tonga beating the side away from home 29-20. That was followed by the U20 side who held onto their World Rugby Championship status by beating Fiji 24-19 in Cape Town effectively relegating the Pacific side to the U20 trophy competition.
All Blacks and the debutants: Scott Robertson continues at 100% with New Zealand and blooded several new caps in their 47-5 win over Fiji in San Diego. The headliner was Billy Proctor who sparkled in the 13 jersey to such an extent that Rieko Ioane would be quietly concerned. Noah Hotham, Wallace Sititi, Pasilio Tosi, Sam Darry and George Bell also made their Test bow for the All Blacks.
Springboks and newbies: Like Razor, Rassie Erasmus opted to test his depth this weekend, issuing seven debuts against Portugal in a first-ever meeting between the Springboks and Os Lobos. On the whole, the newbies performed well against Portugal but it is was also a wonderful occasion with a sold-out stadium in Bloemfontein witnessing the 13-try thriller.
Joe Schmidt keeps it clean: Things were not always perfect for the Wallabies in their 40-29 win over Georgia but it was a vastly rotated side and the coach will be pleased to stay on the right side of the result and learn more about some other players. The back-row of Harry Wilson, Fraser McReight and Rob Valetini looked particularly good. Next time out is the Springboks in a massive Test for the side.
Georgia growth: The emerging side may have lost but in their first Test on Australian soil they came to play and at times had the hosts on the ropes. It is a testament to their focus on development and a good sign of things to come. The way the country is growing it feels like only a matter of time until they sit at the top table.
Reds: With a bunch of their top players with the Wallabies few gave the Queenslanders a chance against Wales but they very nearly got the job done. The Reds were inspired throughout and played some top rugby at a high tempo completely outdoing their opponents in extended periods of the game. In so many ways Les Kiss’s men deserved the win but it was not to be. This one got us excited for the British and Irish Lions Series a year from now.
England U20: After years of French dominance there was finally a new U20 champion crowned in Cape Town as England emerged 21-13 winners. It falls in the same season that England won the Six Nations handing them a prestigious double. It is a positive sign for the future of the Red Rose.
No Pollock, no party 🥳🎉
Our U20 men celebrating winning the World Rugby U20 Championship final the right way 🌹❤️#WorldRugbyU20s pic.twitter.com/MfH69cVumY
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) July 20, 2024
Tier I v Tier II matches: This July we were treated to a bit of a change of pace to the regular mid-year international fixture list as we still got big Tier I Test series but this weekend we were treated to the traditional powerhouses taking on the ‘minnows’. It was fantastic to see the commitment and effort of Os Lobos in Bloem while Georgia thrilled against Australia earlier in the day. The All Blacks powered past Fiji while Scotland wrapped up their third international against a Tier II nation by seeing off Chile and Argentina powered past Uruguay. All-in-all, it was a hugely entertaining weekend of rugby, the kind that we’d only be treated to during a World Cup. It was a great move to organise these Tests in a year after a World Cup but still rather staggering that we won’t see many of such matches with the Nations Cup coming into play.
‘We won’t win World Cups like that’ – Rassie Erasmus reacts to Andre Esterhuizen’s ‘accident’
COLD AS ICE!
Wales: It was a late Kieran Hardy try that saved the result and possibly Warren Gatland’s job against the Reds. That ended off a chaotic week where the coach received massive backlash for naming Cory Hill skipper of the side – which most fans did not like – after the player was caught up in a controversial situation in 2021. The backlash eventually led to Hill withdrawing on the day of the game in what was not a great look for the side.
Sbu Nkosi: The former Springboks winger’s career hangs in the balance after reportedly failing a doping test and could now face a ban of up to four years. It’s been a turbulent few years for Nkosi, who went MIA during his time with the Bulls due to his battle with his mental health. He ultimately left the Bulls on rather poor terms after publicly criticising the Pretoria-based franchise and was handed a lifeline by the Cheetahs, but he looks to have blown that now, too.
Eddie Jones: The ex-England and Australia head coach’s time in Japan has not got off to a good start with the Brave Blossoms losing all three of their mid-year internationals, falling to England, Georgia and Italy. They also lost a match against the Maori All Blacks and Jones is struggling for results in international rugby having gone two from eight with Australia last year. He will hope to finally get off the mark in the Pacific Nations Cup next month.
Disastrous New Zealand anthem rendition: It was real bad. Marla Kavanaugh’s rendition of God Save New Zealand on Saturday was a massive fail as fans took to social media to slam the performance dubbing it the worst ever performance of the national anthem. Springboks fans will remember Ras Dumisani’s rendition of Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika in France while the anthems at the 2023 World Cup were also a disaster. Perhaps travelling teams need to just take a performer with them or hosts need to take it more seriously as it was frankly embarrassing.
Andre Esterhuizen: Sometimes you just get it wrong. Clearly looking to make the most of his chance in the starting lineup, Esterhuizen thundered into a tackle just two minutes into the game against Portugal which ended not only his but Jose Lima’s outing. It was a real low point in an otherwise stunning match.
READ MORE: Predicting the British and Irish Lions team for opening Wallabies Test
Source link : https://www.planetrugby.com/news/whos-hot-and-whos-not-more-wins-for-southern-hemisphere-giants-england-crown-u20-champions-and-eddie-jones-japan
Author :
Publish date : 2024-07-22 07:59:43
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.