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 this past week.
THEY’RE ON FIRE!!
Exeter Chiefs: Rob Baxter’s charges showed why they are the champions after claiming a deserved bonus point win over Wasps – in a repeat of last season’s Premiership Final – at Sandy Park on Sunday. That result means they are now sitting pretty at the top of the table – two points clear of the chasing pack headed by Saracens.
Curwin Bosch and the Sharks: The Currie Cup table-toppers are in red hot form and claimed their ninth successive victory in the competition when they beat the Blue Bulls 18-5 in Durban at the weekend. The result was a momentous one for Robert du Preez’s men as it secured them a home semi-final. Bosch was particularly impressive as he set up a try for Sibusiso Nkosi and landed a monster penalty from just inside his half which sealed victory for his side.
Treviso and Cheetahs: After losing their opening matches, these sides have come back strongly in recent weeks and registered impressive victories. After suffering heavy defeats to Ulster and Munster, the Cheetahs are finding their feet in their new surroundings and bounced back with impressive wins over Zebre and Leinster. Meanwhile, Treviso, who kicked off their campaign with losses at Munster and Ulster, showed that their Round 3 win over Edinburgh was no fluke after notching an impressive win against the Ospreys.
Greg Bateman and Caylib Oosthuizen: The Leicester Tigers and Western Province replacement props delivered impressive try-scoring cameos which helped their teams to secure deserved victories. Bateman came on for a 10-minute spell, after Ellis Genge was yellow carded, and showed a superb turn of speed before crossing the whitewash. Oosthuizen, meanwhile came into WP’s clash against Griquas without having scored a Currie Cup try since making his debut in the tournament for the Lions in 2011. Well, that all changed on Saturday as he finished with two tries in the latter stages of WP’s win.
Henry Slade and Henry Trinder: Starred for Exeter and Gloucester respectively over the weekend. Slade was excellent in the 13 jersey as he sent a message to Eddie Jones that he’s ready to take that shirt at Test level. Meanwhile Trinder, who for much of his early injury-hit career was touted as a long-term England centre, played a major role in Billy Twelvetrees’ try with his silky skills delighting the Shed faithful.
COLD AS ICE
Auckland and Southland: One of the heavyweights of New Zealand’s provincial scene have found the going tough in this year’s Mitre 10 Cup. In their latest match, Auckland headed down to Dunedin to take on Championship outfit Otago who claimed a 34-26 victory over their more fancied opponents, who had big names like Jerome Kaino, Malakai Fekitoa, George Moala, Patrick Tuipulotu and Akira Ioane in their ranks. The loss leaves Auckland at the bottom of the Premiership table and favourites for relegation. Southland meanwhile suffered a seventh straight loss, finding themselves on the end of 57-0 and 50-17 hidings against Bay of Plenty and Tasman this past week. It’s hard to see where a first win is coming from.
Worcester Warriors: They did well to launch a late fightback in their 24-19 loss to Gloucester and it did secure their first point on the Premiership table, but that was the Warriors’ fourth defeat in as many matches and they are prime candidates for the drop down to the Championship even at this early stage of the season. London Irish look set to be their closest rival.
Brive and Stade Français: Although still early in the season, things are not looking good for these two sides, who are bringing up the rear in the Top 14 standings. Brive are winless after five matches and despite losing narrowly to Toulouse at the weekend, already have a points difference of minus 102. Stade, meanwhile are second from bottom and have now lost their last three matches – against Toulon, Toulouse and Bordeaux-Bègles.
Southern Kings: Credit where it’s due for Zebre as they ran out impressive 43-17 winners over the Kings in Port Elizabeth. However this is an embarrassing result for the South African side as hosting Zebre would have been marked as a huge opportunity for points in their debut season in the PRO14, but they ended up being brushed aside, leaking six tries in all in a defeat that makes a serious dent to their confidence.
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