Weekend Rugby Wrap: 5 Talking Points

The Rugby Championship came to an end this weekend while the United Rugby Championship’s second round was played out in Europe as all 4 South African franchises continue to acclimatize to the new tournament. Bet Central sums up the good, the bad, and the harrowing of the past weekend’s rugby.

Rugby Championship Team of the Tournament

South African Franchises Can’t Buy a Win

The United Rugby Championship has produced a plethora of good matches, but for the South African franchises, only 1 out of 8 has ended in victory when the Lions beat Zebre in the first round. It is hardly a reason to sound out the alarm bells, but it is frustrating nonetheless.

The adjustment to the Northern Hemisphere conditions will take time, but one hopes that the victories will start coming in as the teams play more in the competition.

Springboks’ Fire Against All Blacks

South African fans were able to find some joy in the Springboks’ victory over the All Blacks in a scintillating performance from Siya Kolisi’s men. The match had so many amazing narratives particularly with 2 bench mavericks who have divided opinions throughout their career. 

Both Frans Steyn and Elton Jantjies were inspired off the bench and it is not an exaggeration to say they both drove the Springboks to victory this past weekend. The team in its entirety had the best performance of 2021 further adding to the notion that the Springboks save their best for the All Blacks.

Lukhanyo Am, The Best in the World?

Part of the Boks backline is Lukhanyo Am who is fast becoming one of South Africa’s most important players. Many will say Semi Radradra or Virimi Vakatawa is the foremost outside centre in the world, but Lukhanyo Am as an all-around package trumps both at 13.

Lukhanyo Am is close to being the best player in the world at the moment, barring 2 lukewarm performances against the Wallabies, he has hardly put a foot wrong this season. He has stiff competition in Michael Hooper, Codie Taylor, etc. However, he is definitely in the conversation.

Argentina in Sharp Decline

The disheartening aspect of the Rugby Championship was seeing the sharp decline of the Argentines throughout the competition. The team seems to have lost its fire and bumbled through the competition.

Their discipline problems were probably best summed up by Tomas Lavinini becoming the most-carded player in Test rugby history this past weekend. That and Pablo Matera’s from the falling flat is as accurate a summation of where Argentinean rugby is at the moment – lacking discipline and confidence in equal measure.

Andrew Kellaway’s Star Continues to Rise

On the other side of the coin, Australia’s 25-year-old winger – Andrew Kelleway – seems to be getting better with every outing and he showed just how good he can be when he scored a hat-trick of tries against the Pumas inspiring Australia to second place on the log.

The man has a bit of Adam Ashley-Cooper in him, he has no particular standout feature, but he seems to do everything so well and he possesses an eye for the try line. There is every reason to believe he may come to be as important as Ashley-Cooper was for the Wallabies.