GOOD DAY
For Warren Gatland’s ego as the Wales head coach absorbs all the complimentary talk being directed his way.
Not that the man who was once sacked by Ireland after leading them to four wins in a championship season for the first time in more than half a century, is one to have his head turned.
So, when asked about Michael Cheika, the Wallaby coach, describing him this week as a “genius” Gatland quickly pointed out that it is a familiar tactic from a man whose methods he had every opportunity to study when the Australian was leading Leinster to Pro12 and Heineken Cup titles a few years ago.
He has also laughed off the suggestion that he might be targeted as England’s head coach by saying they could not afford him.
It does not take a coaching genius to work out that with the relative resources available to them England’s RFU could overwhelm their Welsh counterparts in any bidding war, or to realise how hard it would be to replicate what he has done with Wales were he to move office to Twickenham.
Whatever happens today Gatland’s reputation and job are a lot more secure than those of most, if not all his international counterparts.
BAD DAY
For public opinion as the Irishman voted man-of-the-match by the rugby audience for last weekend’s qualification-clinching encounter with Italy was dropped from their starting XV for Sunday’s top spot decider against France.
After that Italy game Joe Schmidt, Ireland’s head coach, had spoken warmly about the contribution of Iain Henderson, the rugged Ulster lock, however there was a theory abroad that he would look to play Devin Toner, the gangling Leinsterman, when they were up against taller opponents in the lineout and that was effectively confirmed yesterday.
The change of boiler-house partner for skipper Paul O’Connell was one of just three changes to the Irish side with Cian Healy and Rob Kearney also returning while France have also made three changes with wing Noa Nakaitaci, and No.8 Louis Picamoles returning and Damien Chouly switching flanker to accommodate Picamoles.
WHAT’S ON THIS WEEKEND?
Another cracking weekend in store with pool deciders at Twickenham today and the Millennium Stadium tomorrow, as well as that quarter-final qualification decider in Newcastle this afternoon.
In among that lot it hardly seems to matter that the hosts’ final match has become so meaningless.
Result: New Zealand 49 Tonga 9
Fixtures: Today – Scotland v Samoa at St James’ Park, Newcastle 2.30pm; Australia v Wales at Twickenham 4.45pm; England v Uruguay at Etihad Stadium 8pm. Tomorrow – Argentina v Namibia at Leicester City Stadium 12 noon; Italy v Romania at Sandy Park 2.30pm; Ireland v France at the Millennium Stadium 4.45pm; USA v Japan at Kingsholm 8pm
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here