Another busy period of action has thrown up plenty of contenders for our weekly pick of the winners and losers.
Tom Briscoe
Competition for places in the outside backs at Leeds Rhinos is fierce but new signing Briscoe made a strong first impression with a hat-trick on his Super League debut for the club.
Signed from Hull, the England international touched down three times in 14 second-half minutes as the Rhinos opened their season with a
34-6 road win at Hull KR.
Leeds coach
Brian McDermott was impressed: "He was hard to contain. He's a strong fellow and very robust winger with speed.
"He punched holes in the KR defence in the first half and we value that as highly as the tries. His strength is his strength."
Bad week
Chelsea
Jose Mourinho's 'little horse' missed the chance to pull clear at the top of the Premier League table and were knocked out of the FA Cup.
Victor Anichebe's equaliser three minutes from time earned
West Brom a 1-1 draw in midweek, ensuring Chelsea's Premier League advantage is only one point from Arsenal, while Manchester City - who have a superior goal difference - can draw level by winning their game in hand.
In such a tight title race, those two dropped points at the Hawthorns could prove costly in the final calculations.
And Sunday's
2-0 defeat at Manchester City in the fifth round of the FA Cup means Chelsea's fight for silverware is now limited to two fronts.
London Broncos
The fact Super League's London franchise even made it to the start line should probably be considered an achievement in itself after it looked liked they might fold throughout much of the off-season.
But shipping 11 tries in a
64-10 defeat to Widnes Vikings on the opening day of their new campaign suggests it will be another long season for the small band of league enthusiasts in the capital.
Broncos coach Tony Rea said: "We clearly weren't ready, but need to move on from here.
"I will take a fair lump of the blame, but there has been a lot of chopping and changing. We will be adding to the squad, but these players can do better."
Phil Taylor
A second heavy Premier League defeat in as many weeks leaves Taylor contemplating some difficult questions.
The 53-year-old was thrashed 7-0 by reigning world champion Michael van Gerwen on the opening night in Liverpool and fared little better in week two,
going down 7-3 to another of his young rivals, Adrian Lewis, in Bournemouth.
Taylor's recent weight loss and change of darts have been talking points and there are even some starting to doubt if he can recapture the old magic that brought him 16 world titles.
He gets another chance to answer his critics in week three of the Premier League on Thursday (Feb 20) when Peter Wright provides the opposition in Belfast.
Tomas O'Leary
London Irish's scrum-half is facing a lengthy ban after being sent off after appearing to stamp on the head of James Haskell during the
Exiles' 23-20 Aviva Premiership victory over Wasps.
Wasps director of rugby Dai Young
played down the incident as 'reckless rather than vicious'.
Young said: "It is one of those that you go to clear the ball and things happen quickly. There is no rugby player who goes out there to catch somebody on the head."
But O'Leary, who has won 24 caps for Ireland, will serve a three-week suspension.
