Good week, bad week: England's seven-try MVP

England, Wales, and the USA have seen their stock rise this week – France and UK-based broadcaster ITV have taken a hit…

GOOD WEEK

England
Not just the England senior men’s side – though their 18th consecutive Test win is worthy of another mention – but every other England Six Nations outfit as well. While the senior men’s side beat an injury-ravaged Scotland, the women nilled their counterparts from north of the border and the under-20 side picked up a bonus-point win against their Scots opposition. With one round remaining, the senior men and the under-20s have their titles wrapped up, while all three remain in line for a Grand Slam. Now, just the combined Ireland sides on a Saint Patrick’s weekend in Ireland stand in their way…

Kay Wilson
England’s Wilson scored a record-breaking seven of England’s 12 tries at the Stoop as the Red Roses demolished Scotland 64-0. Her hat-trick came in just 26 minutes; seven minutes later, she became the first player to score four tries in the first half of a women’s Six Nations match. Her fifth came shortly after the restart, and her sixth, the tournament record, followed on the hour. It was fitting, too, that she rounded off the scoring, while Amy Cokayne notched a hat-trick, and Danielle Waterman scored her 25th tournament try in her 25th tournament match. The result, combined with Ireland’s inability to pick up a bonus point against Wales in Cardiff, saw England move a point clear at the head of the table with one match to go.

Jonathan Joseph
Over the road from the Stoop, England’s senior men’s side were almost as clinical as their female counterparts – and centre Jonathan Joseph was the scalpel that cut through the Scottish defence time after time after time, as he ran in a hat-trick in an impressive man-of-the-match performance that lasted all of 57 minutes. Joseph tries are like buses – nothing for ages and then several all at once, and he leapfrogged his way to the top of the tries-by-centres list in the process. We’ve spoken about riches at Warren Gatland’s disposal in the locks and back row. Seems he’s not short of options at 13, either…

George North
The Wales’ winger admitted that the very public arse-handing he received from the coaches in the week leading up to the match against Ireland was the motivating force behind his two-try performance at the Principality Stadium. The out-wide resurrection man was a very different, hard-running animal from the ineffectual flapper who took to the pitch against Scotland at Murrayfield the week previously. But, even in success, there is room for improvement. His late, late charge for a hat-trick was so blinkered, he missed a chance to gift the Welsh a try-scoring bonus.

Perry Baker
The seven-a-side game does not get much of a look-in here, and Americans arguably are honoured with even less. But, while the 15-player game struggles to get a toehold in the US, the shortened version has really kicked in, and with players as downright speedy as Perry Baker and Carlin Isles, it’s easy to see why. The former scored his 100th career try during the Vancouver 7s, and it really was a little bit special. A worthy touchdown for the century.

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BAD WEEK

Coaches at French clubs
Last week, Steve Meehan abruptly left Toulon, becoming the third coach to leave the three-time European champions this season. This week, Raphael Ibanez announced he will vacate the big chair at Bordeaux at the end of the season after facing criticism for punditing on the Six Nations while his club crashed and burned in the Top 14. They had failed to win since November 19, plunging from second to ninth in the table. When, at the weekend, they finally did win a match, Rafa was not there. He was at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome for the Six Nations match between Italy and France. That match at Bordeaux’s Stade Chaban Delmas claimed a second coaching victim as losing side Grenoble and Bernard Jackman – who was actually there – have parted ways. Reports in France suggest that the club told Jackman that he would be surplus to requirements at the end of the campaign, but he decided he did not want to stay that long.

Players at French clubs
Specifically players two French Top 14 clubs – Racing 92 and Stade Francais – after the two clubs from the Parisian neck of the woods (Racing’s base is officially not quite in the capital but is part of the Haute-de-Seine department just outside. Literally, across-a-road outside), announced this week they have decided to merge. Maximum playing-staff levels, the salary cap, an increasingly strict limit on overseas players and a self-expressed desire to promote French talent means that a number of players will find themselves out of a job. According to L’Equipe, the two clubs currently have a combined 62 players on their books whose contracts are due to last at least one more season. The maths alone reveals many will be on the hunt for new employers sooner rather than later. Not even Racing’s marquee player Dan Carter, who was booed as he left the Stade Yves du Manoir pitch in the defeat to La Rochelle at the weekend, is safe – though buying him out of the final year his contract would cost an awful lot.

The Aviva Premiership
Sponsor Aviva’s long-running contract with the English Premiership is set to finish at the end of the season – and the competition’s organisers have yet to finalise a new deal, leaving clubs fearing that they could face a £650,000 shortfall next season. The League is said to be looking for an improved £35million deal over four years – but the problem, according to an article in The Rugby Paper, is that sponsorship opportunities are being severely squeezed as the Six Nations and European rugby competitions are also looking for new deals, while Premier League soccer clubs can now enlist ‘sleeve sponsors’ – a move that could hit rugby club revenues.

ITV
British broadcaster ITV, which now shares coverage of the Six Nations with the BBC and did a pretty decent job as host broadcaster of the 2015 Rugby World Cup, really did introduce Scotland’s injured captain Greig Laidlaw like this:

https://twitter.com/EricNorthcote/status/840638122841034752

No, ITV. Just. No.

SANZAAR
The Southern Hemisphere powerhouse unions held a meeting about the future of Super Rugby in London at the weekend, after which everyone expected some news on the future shape of the competition. Instead, the news was that they needed to have more meetings about the meeting before the next meeting after which maybe, in a couple of months, they might be ready to announce the two or three teams that have been given the chop… but no promises. Maybe Racing 92 and Stade Francais had the right idea.