Quote Me On That

The Rugby Championship came to an end with South Africa needing to find more space in their trophy cabinet after they defeated Argentina at a windy Allianz Stadium in London.

New Zealand also ended on a high by retaining the Bledisloe Cup in Perth. All four now have a few weeks rest before heading back to Europe for the end of year internationals.

Elsewhere, there were ructions galore coming out of France, with two of their leading players sharing their opinions, while Gallagher PREM Rugby and the United Rugby Championship (URC) hit round two.

Here’s our favourite soundbites of the week…

“We missed a few tackles, and the yellow card. Canan (Moodie) was lucky with the one that he tapped back, it was almost two yellow cards there. If I were Felipe (Contepomi – Argentina head coach), I would have said one was maybe a red card and the one he was trying to reach might have been more than a yellow.”

Rassie Erasmus thanks the rugby gods for Moodie’s reprieve:

“We always knew that Argentina have got massive fight in them. They take you to the gutters and we had to swim there in the gutters with them.”

Rassie, again, after breaking out his snorkel and mask:

“You’d rather learn while you’re winning than while you’re losing. So, we’ll take it. We’re top of the World Rugby log now, but we’re under no illusions how tough the end of year tour will be.”

Erasmus ain’t done with 2025 just yet:

“We took our opportunities. We got ahead on the scoreboard. It was really important going into that second half, just the mental toughness in the group that we showed, the ability to stay in the whole match. In past games, we probably would’ve let teams back in.”

New Zealand head coach Scott Robertson sees the upward curve:

“When the decision was made, it probably took a while to get made, and then once it was made. It was probably a little bit easier. But now that it’s done, it’s done.”

No turning back for retiring Aussie prop James Slipper:

“We’re not out here to be competitive, we’re out there to win. The last two Test matches, we’ve had opportunities which we haven’t taken, and we’ve had two losses which is just really disappointing. There definitely is light at the end of the tunnel for us and we’ve got to be better with those little margins.”

Wallabies captain Harry Wilson sees improvement despite another defeat:

“When you're up against him he's just unbearable. He's just playing his own game, he's great at it. He can be quite annoying, but there's nothing malicious there. I don't think it's a lack of respect either... He's just that classic Englishman you love to hate. I think he'll be around, getting on our nerves for a few years to come as well.”

We can’t wait for Mathieu Jalibert v Henry Pollock part deux, trois and quatre:

“The salary cap rules prevent us from using our individual image through traditional advertising contracts. It’s becoming a problem for most of the players on the French team… because we already know we’re restricted by this salary cap. We find ourselves in a growing rugby economy thanks to us, the players in the middle, and in the end, we don’t benefit from it because salaries are stagnating or even falling, and we can’t use our image. It’s starting to be too much.”

France captain Antoine Dupont hits out at the Ligue National du Rugby (LNR):

“Everyone at Newcastle Red Bulls would like to thank Steve Diamond for his passion, contribution and guidance, which have been instrumental in supporting the club throughout this important transition.”

Here’s hoping Steve Diamond’s payoff is fuller than Newcastle Red Bull’s thanks:

“Lee is so clear in the way he wants his teams to attack and so good at getting that message across. That is not something that Bath will forget quickly, and he has created good habits and a really dangerous attacking team that will be influenced by Lee for some time to come.”

Sale Sharks defence coach Byron McGuigan knows Bath won’t suffer despite Lee Blackett’s exit:

“We conceded eleven tries, so there's nothing good about it. We knew Clermont were powerful and we didn't compete. It's unacceptable. We can't concede 70 or 80 points. We were catastrophic.”

Another week, another heavy defeat for Montauban centre Maxime Mathy to reflect on:

“There wasn't a single positive thing tonight. The players were panicking. There weren't three periods of play without a knock-on. The big thing that was missing was the fight. There was no energy. There's nothing to take away from this match. We did nothing. We're at the bottom of the bucket. We only got what we deserved.”

Things aren’t improving for Biarritz head coach Boris Bouhraoua: