Who’s hot and who’s not: Andy Farrell’s Lions call, French duo dazzle as Saracens suffer record loss in Champions Cup

Any-farrell-and-saracens-champions-cup-rugby

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!

Andy Farrell named Lions coach: As expected, Farrell was last week unveiled as the British & Irish Lions head coach for the 2025 tour to Australia. After three tours as head coach, Warren Gatland’s reign finally comes to an end, and you would be hard-pressed to find a more suitable successor to the New Zealander. Farrell’s CV with Ireland is impressive, and he’s head and shoulders above his home nations rivals for the top job. It’ll be interesting to see who is appointed in the backroom team, not least selected in the squad itself further down the line.

French duo show their class: Sunday treated Champions Cup watchers to three different but equally entertaining matches. Yes, Bath impressed in their win over Racing 92, but it was the performances of La Rochelle and Bordeaux-Begles that really caught the eye as they dominated Leicester Tigers and Saracens respectively. The power game of the reigning champions was on show as they finally got a win on the board before UBB were ruthless on the turnover, with their backline cutting loose in a nine-try victory. Either team could go all the way.

Names on kits: This year’s Six Nations will see all players have their names on the back of their shirts, a move that’s expected to bring fans closer to players. England, Scotland and Italy displayed names during last year’s tournament, but Wales, Ireland and France are set to follow suit in what would be a first for the men’s competition. This is surely only positive in attracting new supporters to rugby, and we are all for it.

Big Champions Cup wins: Carrying on from the handsome wins for La Rochelle and Bordeaux-Begles, there were several other sides who enjoyed big wins in the Champions Cup over the weekend. Friday saw Northampton Saints kick off the round with a 61-14 win over Bayonne before Saturday’s results included Leicester (43-7) over Stade Francais, Harlequins (54-15) against Cardiff and Toulouse (48-24) at Ulster. It wasn’t just the size of results that impressed over the weekend, though, as Munster’s victory at Toulon was outstanding, while the Bulls and Bath also impressed in their wins over Bristol and Racing, respectively. We’re all set up for a fascinating final round of pool games this week.

Benetton shine again: The Italian side ended 2023 in second place in the United Rugby Championship and have continued to impress at the start of 2024, with their 57-18 victory at Newcastle Falcons catching the eye. The eight-try success at Kingston Park deserves recognition, as while the Falcons are out of sorts, to claim such a dominant win shows how far Benetton have come. The question is, how far can they go?

BROKEN THERMOSTAT!

Lucky Vintcent, unlucky Warriors: Late drama at Sandy Park caused much debate as the TMO denied Glasgow a match-winning try. With the game on the line, Glasgow pressured Exeter’s scrum and Ross Vintcent, forcing an error from the young number eight. However, they were judged to have done so illegally as the back-row was let off. Technically, we feel the officials got the decision correct, but was there really enough evidence to overturn it? David Flatman accurately said the decision was “verging on splitting hairs,” which is a fair summation.

COLD AS ICE!

Api Ratuniyarawa: The Fijian international was sentenced to almost three years in prison on Tuesday for a series of sexual offences that took place in a Cardiff nightclub last year. The 37-year-old, who has played for Northampton Saints and London Irish in the Premiership, committed the crimes at the Revolution nightclub between October 31 and November 1, 2023, days before the Barbarians were due to face Wales in a game. The shocking assaults have caused the young women a great deal of trauma, as their statements at the sentencing proved.

Embarrassing Bayonne and Cardiff: A hefty loss apiece for the French and Welsh sides as they went down to Northampton Saints and Harlequins, respectively. Bayonne were simply not at the races at Franklin’s Gardens as the Saints dominated from start to finish, running in 61 points that included nine tries. Cardiff were also completely outplayed at home as Quins racked up 55 points. Sobering defeats for both.

Saracens stunned: It seems unfair to be critical of the performances of the aforementioned duo and not also mention Saracens, seeing as their losing margin was one point greater than Cardiff’s. The English outfit, who had the likes of Owen Farrell, Nick Tompkins, Alex Goode, Sean Maitland, Elliot Daly, Ben Earl, Maro Itoje and other big names in their line-up, were torn apart by Bordeaux-Begles in the nine-try defeat that leaves them in fifth place in Pool One. A massive home game against Lyon now looms that has become a must-win for Saracens.

Six Nations injuries: The fixtures just before the Six Nations squad announcements are a double-edged sword, and this year has proved no different as players attempt to earn their place in the international squad but also run the risk of injury. For Ireland, both Mack Hansen and Jimmy O’Brien have been ruled out of their title defence, while England has a host of injuries in the front-row with Ellis Genge, Kyle Sinckler and Joe Marler out injured. France will already be without Antoine Dupont and probably Romain Ntamack but were dealt a fresh blow when hooker Pierre Bourgarit departed the pitch in La Rochelle’s comprehensive Champions Cup triumph against Leicester Tigers. Finally, Wales will be without Taulupe Faletau again, and he could be joined on the sidelines by key duo Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake, too.