Who’s hot and who’s not: Milestones aplenty, knockout picture shaping up and a broken shield

David Skippers
All Black star Sam Whitelock in a split with a cameraman.

All Black star Sam Whitelock in a split with a cameraman.

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!

Sam Whitelock’s milestone: It was a special moment for the veteran second-row when he came onto the field as a replacement in the second half during the All Blacks’ 96-17 demolition of Italy in Lyon on Friday. The 34-year-old entered the fray in the 49th minute of that clash which meant he made his 149th Test appearance and overtook All Blacks legend Richie McCaw as New Zealand’s most capped international player. Whitelock now sits in second place in the overall standings, behind Wales’ Alun Wyn Jones, who finished on 170 before retiring earlier this year.

Darcy Graham: The Scotland flyer was in red hot form in their Pool B clash against Romania at the Rugby World Cup as he became his country’s first player to score four tries in a Rugby World Cup match during their 84-0 triumph in Lille. The 26-year-old proved a handful to the Oaks’ defence as he finished with 211 metres gained from 22 runs which included seven clean breaks, a whopping 14 defenders beaten and two offloads. His four tries also means he is now joint-second in Scotland’s all-time try-scoring list – with Ian Smith and Tony Stanger on 24 – just three adrift of record-holder Stuart Hogg.

Nicolas Sanchez: The Argentina fly-half had special reason to celebrate on Saturday as he made his 100th Test appearance for Los Pumas in their 59-5 win over Chile in Nantes. In doing so, he became only the second player to notch that achievement, behind veteran hooker Agustin Creevy, who achieved the feat during the Rugby Championship earlier this year. Sanchez celebrated his milestone in style as he finished the match with a 20-point contribution courtesy of a try, a penalty and six conversions.

Siya Kolisi milestone: Another big moment at the weekend saw the inspirational skipper from the Springboks’ 2019 Rugby World Cup triumph run out for his 50th cap as captain of his country. Kolisi‘s rise to the top of the game in South Africa is simply sensational and he has grown in leaps and bounds as a leader and a figure in the game. When the great Springbok one day hangs up his boots he would have established himself as one the greatest leaders in the game’s history.

Springboks and All Blacks take big step towards knockouts: By no means was it a classic or vintage performance but ultimately it was a solid 49-18 win from the defending champions over a spirited Tonga, who played much better than the scoreline suggests. The result means that the Springboks are in a good position to advance – providing Scotland do not smash Ireland, that is. Meanwhile, the All Blacks are also on the brink and only need a bonus-point victory over Uruguay on Thursday to move into the next round after they hammered Italy. It was an impressive display by Ian Foster’s men, who have been written off in some quarters following their losses to South Africa and France.

Fiji on the verge: It has been a truly memorable tournament for the Flying Fijians, who have won many hearts with their free flowing running and likeable style of play. They have also added a gritty, competitive edge, making them an interesting team in the context of the World Cup. The way their pool is lying after the weekend’s action means that just one point against Portugal will send them through to the knockouts.

COLD AS ICE!

RWC’s one-sided results: Although most of the matches at the global showpiece in France have been exciting encounters between evenly matched teams, several of the fixtures have been one-sided affairs and over the past weekend there were huge victories for New Zealand, Scotland and Argentina over Italy, Romania and Chile respectively. Those results were not the only games where there were big scorelines for the victors as countries like hosts France, defending champions South Africa and the world’s number one ranked team, Ireland, have also racked up huge victories against rugby union’s minnows. Playing at a World Cup in any sports code is usually the pinnacle of any sportsman or sportswoman’s career, but such one-sided results is not a good look for the game as the gap seems to grow between the heavyweights and the so-called ‘minnows’.

RWC going behind a paywall in the UK: World Rugby are reportedly set to remove Rugby World Cup tournaments from free-to-air channels ITV and S4C in England and Wales from the 2027 tournament onwards. The decision goes against the governing body’s vision to make the game more accessible but Alan Gilpin, World Rugby’s CEO, insists that the game must also capitalise on its revenue potential. However, as ever with these bigwigs in sporting organisations, they only look short-term, rather than thinking about its long-term impact. If Gilpin wanted an example of this, he only has to look at cricket. After the 2005 Ashes, a competition which captured the imagination of the UK, the sport went completely behind a paywall and it has had disastrous consequences for the grassroots game.

Ranfurly Shield damaged: New Zealand’s famous shield was on the wrong end of victory celebrations by some Hawke’s Bay players. The shield was left severely damaged after falling onto concrete and it is believed to be ‘a genuine accident’. Regardless, it is a great pity to see such a treasured trophy being left in such a state.

Namibia and Romania: The aforementioned countries have really found the going tough at this year’s Rugby World Cup as neither have amassed any points in the standings. Namibia put up a good fight in their last game against Uruguay but just missed out on a bonus point in a 36-26 defeat. They were never at the races in their previous games as they suffered huge losses to Italy (52-8), New Zealand (71-3) and France (96-0). Romania have arguably been the worst performing team in the tournament as they hardly put up a fight in losses to Ireland (82-8), South Africa (76-0) and Scotland (84-0). That means they have only scored eight points while conceding 242 and that total is bound to get worse when they face Tonga in their last match on Sunday.

Italy: The Azzurri went into their crunch encounter against New Zealand brimming with confidence after starting their World Cup campaign in style with impressive bonus-point victories over Namibia and Uruguay. There was even talk in some quarters that they could cause an upset against the All Blacks but it wasn’t to be as Kieran Crowley’s troops were blown away by the All Blacks. Quite frankly, it was an embarrassing display by the Italians, who looked mentally shot after 20 minutes and never recovered, with far too many individuals going off-script.

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