Weekend Rugby Wrap: 5 Takeaways

The month of February has had very quiet weeks in terms of rugby with more often than not only a single competition in play the whole weekend, once again the only action available to spectators this week was URC rugby. Bet Central added a bit of news around the Springboks alignment squad and brings you points on that as well.

Leinster March On

Leinster are an unbelievably well-run club. Part of that is the on-field work done to build a squad with unrivalled depth. There isn’t a team across the world that boasts the depth of Leinster.

This week they were without their large Irish Test players contingent, but it proved to be no problem as they cruised past Benetton by 40-18 despite the absence of their raft of world-class players. Once again they are favourites for the title in a competition they have dominated for so long.

Hamish Watson’s Historic Night Is Followed By A Recall

Edinburgh made hard work of their win in Italy against Zebre, but they did eventually get over the line beating the Italian side 24-19. The night belonged to Hamish Watson who notched up his 150th appearance for Edinburgh becoming only the 11th player to go past that mark.

Watson is the only loose forward in the history of Edinburgh rugby to go past the 150 mark. This historic night was followed with good news of a recall into the Scotland squad for the next few games in the 6 Nations – a pleasing week for a legend of the Scottish game.

Lions Backs Rewarded

There was quite a bit of joy at Emirates Airline Park as Rassie Erasmus named his Springboks alignment squad for camps to take place in March. While this is not a guarantee of Springbok selection later in the year, it’s an acknowledgment that a few of the Lions are making an impression on the Springboks coaching staff.

The backs in particular have a huge presence in the squad named by Erasmus. Morne van den Berg, Sanele Nohamba, Jordan Hendrickse, Henco van Wyk, and Quan Horn are all rewarded for their sparkling form with the Lions this season. They will add depth to an already star-studded group of players.

Embrose Papier Is Very Unlucky

For all the rewards in form that have been seen in these alignment camps, there is a name that is a shock omission even when one considers it is just alignment camps, there are merits to the exclusion of the likes of Francke Horn and Hacjivah Dayimani, but Embrose Papier is a huge shock.

The Bulls scrumhalf has been a standout for his team this season, arguably the best player on Jake White’s team this season. There could be a reason as to why the coaching staff opted not to include him. The silver lining for the in-form scrumhalf is he has a few months to prove he deserves the recall come mid-year.

Fassi, And Gelant Finding Their Feet

Warrick Gelant is returning home from an unsuccessful spell in France while Aphelele Fassi has had a few lean seasons with the Sharks. But both of them showed in the game in Durban that they still have the ability and the appetite to take control of the game.

The dynamic fullbacks looked brilliant. Fassi for one has developed his defensive game and can no longer be considered a liability on this front. Warrick Gelant is finding that playmaking ability again and his link-up play is showing up.

Sean Parker

Sean Parker is a motorsport journalist and sports content creator at The South African. He has worked for the country's premier motoring publications, and is a Formula 1 contributor to Bet.co.za, the Bet Central podcast, and Vision View Sports radio.