Monday 25 September 2017 16:19, UK
Stuart Barnes talks Italian victories, high-flying Glasgow Warriors, Eddie Jones' logic, England's options and much more...
1 Let's start the week in Scotland. Glasgow gave Munster what is a rare hammering in the regular PRO14 season.The stuttering gave way to something altogether smoother as they maintained their winning ways but upped their level of performance significantly.
When David Rennie was signed up as Gregor Townsend's replacement, this was the sort of quality expected and it could proved to be a very useful five points as the season develops.
2 Munster's away win over the Ospreys the previous week was a good result but not an especially impressive performance. Tables don't always tell you a great deal at this stage of the season. The victory in Swansea seems a lot less impressive considering the Ospreys went down 16-6 to Treviso on Friday night.
They have most of the statistics on their side but there was little to no shape to their game. Last week I expressed a few concerns about the direction in which they are heading after two shoddy efforts in front of the cameras in the previous fortnight. Yes, these are early days but Ospreys are under-performing, and badly.
3 Where there is shadow, there is also light. Two wins in the same weekend for the Italian teams. It must be quite a while since the Italian pair recorded same weekend wins.
In Treviso's case, the joy of back to back triumphs having won in Edinburgh in round three. Zebre notched their first win of the season with a romp in Port Elizabeth. Their 54-39 loss in Bloemfontein doesn't appear so awful after Friday night.
4 The competition needed something special from one of the South African teams. It might not have been a spectacular performance from Cheetahs - let's face it, Leinster were poor, made a lot of individual errors, played with little aggression on the gain line, were nowhere near a full team, the list goes on - but still, this was a comprehensive win.
A strong set-piece, some solidity in the midfield and a constant threat in the back three. They also showed much improvement at the breakdown, an area where they have struggled badly until now.
An encouraging performance, a worrying crowd. I guess Leinster might be a big name side in Europe but in South Africa they are relatively unknown outside the fanatical rugby bubble.
5 One of the most impressive individual performers in the PRO14 weekend was the referee in Bleomfontein, 33-year-old Scot, Mike Adamson. He only took control of his first PRO14 game last season. Here he was, unobtrusively keeping this game ticking.
A preference for his own eyes over technical assistance and a high level of accuracy from first to last. It has been a while since there has been a Scottish international referee. Expect Adamson to make his way to the international panel much sooner than later. Praising referees? I must be getting soft.
6 Eddie Jones named his England squad for a two-day get together on Monday and Tuesday in Oxford. There were a few headlines, a few omissions, a youngster called Smith included. It didn't cause too much excitement in this part of North Wiltshire. Jones always picks interesting squads but ones that don't necessarily mean much when it comes to the next international.
The sessions are as much about the long-term future (or Tokyo to be more precise) as Argentina, in this instance. The Australian has the knack of balancing the priority of the short and long terms.
There is a smooth logic to most things Jones does (not all, but most), which isn't fun for a broadcaster/journalist in search of headlines. He remains deeply impressive - in my eyes, anyway.
7 The weekend's bad news for Eddie, England, Saracens and anyone with time for a decent bloke is the four-month absence of Billy Vunipola. The 24-year-old is having a bad time of it with injuries but he has plenty of time yet to make the step up from outstanding player of his era to legend.
Ten years ago these persistent injuries would have taken the steam out of him but the medics are capable of what looks something like magic to a non-scientific soul like myself. I'll keep faith in their ability to get the No 8 into action some time during the Six Nations and fully wound up for the tour of South Africa. Harlequins' Jack Clifford replaces him in the squad, Nathan Hughes is the likeliest replacement in the team.
8 Busman's holiday for me on Saturday. Having broadcast Friday night, I was back in my old stomping ground of the Recreation Ground on Saturday afternoon, a stint of match reporting for the Sunday Times. The sun shone, the cider sparkled, the pasties were almost perfect and over 14,000 fans were treated to a nine-try thriller.
It wasn't exactly a case of stunned silence at full-time as mild shock. Newcastle led 19-0, were losing 32-19 before fighting back to win 33-32. Three chunks of dominance with Newcastle in control for 43 of the 80 minutes.
The scoreboard was a fair reflection. My old mate, Dean Richards, did a little jog at full-time, I swear. The lugubrious one, who is doing a great job in the north-east, couldn't help but smile.
9 On Friday night Billy Twelvetrees (playing really well) finished off a move that was stamped all over with try of the season.
A weaving break from Henry Trinder, some superb support lines from Willie Heinz and Trinder himself helped former England centre Twelvetrees dive over the line. Gloucester looked very good for half an hour....thereafter it was messy but I reckon the Cherry and Whites will be some team in a season or so. Something is happening at Kingsholm, something good. But it may take some time.
10 Against them Ben Te'o played as effective an 80 minutes as I have seen from the big man. He breached the gain line with ease and off-loaded accurately. We know what he can do in defence. Jonathan Joseph looked fed up at Bath, until he came to life with a set up and a 50m plus solo score of his own.
But with Henry Slade smooth as you like for Exeter on Sunday, Joseph is going to have to go some to get back into the England camp, which is exactly what Jones wants. As for Slade, he is looking the part, now people have stopped trying to force him into the 10 shirt. Ever capable of sublime touches, this was the most influential game, start to finish, I have seen from him. He is a major contender for the 13 shirt when England meet Argentina in November.
