Stuart Barnes
Rugby Union Expert & Columnist
Stuart Barnes' talking points: Harlequins and Wasps impress
Last Updated: 26/09/16 4:47pm
Harlequins' impressive win over Saracens, Johnny Sexton shining on his return from injury and Wasps' winning start to the season feature in Stuart Barnes' talking points.
1. I read that Manu Tuilagi is out of the autumn internationals, having exacerbated his long-term groin strain.
Don't get me wrong, I have the utmost sympathy for the man and his predicament but why, oh why, do we persist in reporting on Big Manu as if continued injury problems are news? He is always on the brink of a comeback before he inevitably undergoes another setback.
Until he has at least a month of high quality rugby behind him can we end this talk of his returning to the England team....doubtless we'll soon be discussing his fitness for the forthcoming Lions tour although, right now, there is nothing to discuss.
Manu Tuilagi in form and fit is news; Manu injured again is sadly not.
2. On a happier note, the injury-prone Johnny Sexton made an accomplished start to a Lions season with a high-tempo display against the Ospreys.
Zinging the ball around at pace, he looked every inch the consummate ringmaster that he is when playing to or near his peak. It was a performance to remind doubters that he remains the fly-half with the most appropriate CV for facing the All Blacks next summer.
In contrast, George Ford's school report had a 'must do better' in red ink scrawled at the top. The Bath man was in good form until Sunday but his goal-kicking went off radar at Welford Road before the rest of his game dipped well below his usual levels.
Eddie Jones would not have enjoyed the performance. The Leicester crowd did.
3. High up in the talking points is the subject of Italian rugby. It has been a good week for Italy with Treviso thumping Newport Gwent Dragons and Zebre almost beating the high-flying Cardiff Blues.
It could have been a whole lot better as well had the cruel rugby Gods not intervened against Zebre a week ago.
Twelve points ahead in the 54th minute against defending champions Connacht, they were six minutes short of the hour needed for the score line to become a result in the event of suspension.
The heavens opened and saved Connacht but it doesn't dampen the feeling that there is hope that Italian rugby can do more than prop up the PRO12 League.
4. Ah but what has happened to Connacht? The champions are three defeats from three games and lucky (see above) that it is not worse.
Another loss on the weekend and another day without a bonus point of any sort; last season is beginning to feel like no more than a dream.
A loss of key personnel has not helped but I am concerned that Pat Lam has them set out to play the same way they did in triumph. Glasgow had them worked out in week one and it seems other teams do as well.
If last season was the achievement of Lam's coaching career, this is shaping up to be the challenge of his career.
5. Things haven't gone so well for Glasgow since those impressive wins against Connacht and Leinster. Consecutive defeats, including one at home to Ulster on Friday, is bad news for Gregor Townsend but good for the competitive nature of the PRO12.
Cardiff Blues have made the sort of start the league needed from a Welsh team while Ulster's away win was a notable performance. Paddy Jackson's try was good enough to win a match of some real early season substance as Ulster put down a marker.
Ulster's game against Ospreys in front of what is bound to be something approaching a full house in Belfast is one not to miss on Sky Sports this coming Saturday.
6. Staying on the subject of Irish rugby, Munster may have three wins from four games but they have a vast amount of work needed if they are to buck their recent trend and get out of the pool stages in Europe.
For the second week in succession, the strength of their scrum saw them to safety against less than exalted opposition. Had Edinburgh not been without three international front rows the result could have been very different.
Munster have a new man at the helm, and a sharp operator too in Rassie Erasmus but while they are getting the wins they are not making the progress required in terms of performance to be anything but European underdogs.
7. Well done to Wasps, four wins from four in the highly-competitive Premiership is not to be sniffed at.
Northampton had their chances against them at the Gardens but I like the attitude of Wasps when their backs are to the wall. They have the players to score superb tries from anywhere as was witnessed once again with Jimmy Gopperth's try and they have the old Wasps spirit too.
I don't know who is, or will be voted the Premiership player of the month but if it's any help my suggestion is Gopperth; what a magnificent start he has made to the campaign.
8. Harlequins did it again. They beat Saracens in January and they beat them again Saturday.
Does it reveal weaknesses in the Saracens side? Well, it shows they are human and that Maro Itoje is fallible but every side has to lose in the end.
I would imagine Mark McCall would see the defeat as an opportunity to recalibrate. Expect a bounce back, not a slump.
9. On the subject of slumps, what is going on with new boys, Bristol? Regulars at Ashton Gate will know the answer. Bristol's defence was pretty porous in last year's Championship. Stepping up to the Premiership the weakness is causing any foundations being laid to collapse. Andy Robinson has some emergency work to do.
With Newcastle beating the perennially inconsistent Gloucester at Kingsholm and Worcester throwing a lead but still getting three points from their draw with Sale, Bristol don't look as if they can rely on another team to keep them company at the basement while they adapt to Premiership rugby.
10. La Rochelle are top of the Top 14. How wonderful. Which goes to show you can't keep a good Huguenot down. That's one for you European historians.
