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A full weekend of action across the Top 14, United Rugby Championship (URC) and Super Rugby, with all four throwing up storylines and soundbites.
In the Top 14 Toulouse, Bordeaux-Begles and Pau enjoyed victories, and Stade Francais Sunday evening thumping of Clermont Auvergne leaves les jaunards’ playoff hopes hanging by a thread.
Glasgow Warriors continued their ascendancy in the URC but have the Stormers in hot pursuit after the Capetonians beat Edinburgh. Ulster remain on course to finish as the best placed of Ireland’s four teams after returning from a visit to Italy with a five-point win over Zebre.
In Super Pacific Rugby, the Reds and Brumbies suffered defeats in their pursuit of the Hurricanes and Blues, both of whom enjoyed convincing wins.
In England’s PREM, Harlequins upset Bristol Bears but otherwise results went to form. However, the PREM gave a hint of what the league may look like when it goes to a franchise model, and ATR certainly liked the sound of one idea in particular.
Here’s what else has been tickling our earbuds…
“A lot has been said in the last few weeks, some of it unfortunate, but it will take more than that to break this group.”
Harlequins captain Alex Dombrandt tells TNT Sports his team are tougher than it seems after beating Bristol Bears:
“After a couple of replays, I decided not to deem it foul play. Our train of thought was: if the players were arriving at the same time, was the clear out illegal in itself? That’s why we arrived pretty fast at that outcome. Don’t confuse it with being a simple thing – it wasn’t.”
Lions second test ref Andrea Piardi tells RugbyPass he’d make the same call at the end:
“I’m trying to calm down but if I was picking a team now for next week, there would certainly be some changes in it.”
Fair to say Gloucester head coach George Skivington wasn’t impressed with his team’s loss:
“We see neutral play-offs adding to the narrative and the general scale of the league. They are big games and you want to make them bigger. France do it. They’ve created a moment there and we want to explore it.”
A weekend away? Big stadium semies? Yes please! PREM Rugby’s Simon Massie-Taylor makes a suggestion we can all get on board with:
“Rens (Dave Rennie) has been really clear around what his expectations are on the sort of player he wants. We’ve acknowledged that we’ve got some good athletes and when you look at the forward pack, we’ve got a good, dynamic pack that can use footwork at the line. He wants to use them and that’s exciting.”
All Blacks forwards coach Jason Ryles explains to Sport Nation how the pack will shape up:
“Had you said to me yesterday we were going to come here and get a bonus point win, I'd have bitten your hand off for it.”
Iain Henderson tells Premier Sports his thoughts after Ulster beat Zebre Parma, not a bad place for a bite:
I made it clear to the guys: we have to play these matches to win, especially at home. We know what's at stake. Today, we're in a situation where we can't play for ourselves, but for something bigger.
Perpignan coach Laurent Labit hails a much-needed win over Toulon:
“He feels good, but then some days he doesn’t feel so good. I don’t know what kind of calf injury it is, but we’ll look at it week by week and see how it goes.”
Sharks coach JP Pietersen provides an update on Siya Kolisi’s fitness:
“I’ve loved my time as a professional rugby player, during which time I’ve made so many great friends and enjoyed incredible memories. Unfortunately, injuries have meant I have not been able to contribute on the field as much as I would have liked during my time in Newcastle, but I would like to thank the club and our supporters for making my family and I feel so welcome during our time in the northeast.”
Former Wales, and Lions international Liam Williams announces his retirement:
“He’s an awesome young man, and yeah, that’s obviously the landscape of rugby at the moment, boys feeling like they need to go overseas and take opportunities, but he’s going to be missed, that’s for sure.”
Hurricanes captain Du’Plessis Kirifi will miss Fehi Fineanganofo when he leaves for Newcastle Red Bulls:
“I think I have got one more year in me competitively. The wheels are still going to be fair. I’ve had a lot of time off this year, so you know, I’m feeling pretty fresh. If I can play one more year, the Bears, that’ll be my 10th year, and I’ll be very happy with that.”
Bristol Bears’ Steven Luatua tells RugbyPass he is aiming for double figures in England’s west:
“It’s always the most physical game of the season, and that always excited me because I love that side of the game. Other teams have a real fear of playing Sale because of that physical challenge, and I can’t wait to be on the other side of that.”
Exeter Chiefs and Wales’s Christ Tshiunza explains his decision to move north:
“Andre (Esterhuizen) does it pretty well now. I don’t think it will ever be at his level. I keep joking to Paul O’Connell that I should do it, and he laughs me off. He doesn’t really give me much time.”
On the Verdict podcast, Ireland’s Stuart McCloskey reveals we may see him in the pack one day:
“I mean, it’s always a danger the week before the bye that you take your foot off the accelerator a little bit and try and do it in an easy manner. But these boys came together and decided, it’s going to be hard, but they worked our way through it.”
Blues coach Vern Cotter likes how his team dogged out their win over Fijian Drua:
“If you saw that wound open and the photo of it, I have not seen a wound like that on a leg. That was some laceration.”
Hopefully Bath boss Johann van Graan didn’t have a full stomach when he saw Francois van Wyk’s injury:
“Our goal was to back up performances and obviously in the first half, we turned over some ball, our discipline allowed them some entries, and they got the momentum and their tails up and we gave ourselves a mountain to climb.”
Newcastle Red Bulls interim head coach Stephen Jones tells the BBC that Exeter Chiefs made it like Everest:
“When I signed, I never thought about playing international rugby. Then, when I came to my latest contract and sorting that out, there was some mention of becoming a project player. Because if I sign on again, I’ll qualify for Ireland halfway through that next contract. Since then, I have definitely thought about it.”
New Zealand-born Alex Nankivell tells RugbyPass to keep an eye on his decision come October 2028:
“I would love to play for the Springboks. I would take the opportunity with both hands, but it’s not my end goal. My end goal is to just enjoy my rugby, and that’s why I started playing rugby.”
JJ Van der Mescht tells Off The Pitch Rugby that he won't lose sleep if the Springboks call doesn't come: