Martin Crowson looks back at five key points from the weekend's rugby action.
1With talk of concussion protocol and player welfare dominating rugby at the moment, there was another incident that highlighted the sometimes brutal nature of the game last weekend. Italy and Treviso centre Luca Morisi had to have his spleen removed after a particularly damaging hit to his abdomen early in the test match against Fiji. There was no sense of illegality in the tackle from Asaeli Tikoirotuma that caused the injury, but the game was marred by Fiji receiving five yellow cards which, at one stage, left them with just 11 players on the field.
2Talking of concussion, the Mail on Sunday has been running a campaign to force the game's governing bodies to look at the link between head injuries and dementia. In the wake of the £475million payout to ex-NFL players who had either died from, or were suffering from, dementia, the International Rugby Board have now finally admitted there could be a link in rugby. "We recognise that there might be a potential link," said the IRB's chief medical officer Martin Raftery this weekend. It will be fascinating to see where the debate goes from here.
3If we are judging the All Blacks as the marker to beat in terms of preparation for the World Cup in 2015, then England are on the right track. They need a fly-half willing to play a flatter line in attack and they need more creative weapons out wide and in midfield. But England's forwards (and respect to Graham Rowntree for this) proved they can mix it with the best in the world in both the set-piece and the breakdown. Polish the edges and find consistency, and you never know what might happen in two years.
4Closer to home, Leicester Tigers are about to embark on a crucial two-week period in the Aviva Premiership. Yes, there is still plenty of time to go this season, but Tigers qualified for a home semi-final last season having lost six games in the 22-game campaign. They have already lost three games out of seven and, with trips to Saracens, Northampton and Harlequins to come, an injury-ravaged Leicester side have to find some form in the league in a hurry if they have any chance of a home semi-final.
5Tigers lock Sebastian de Chaves has not only proved himself to be a capable line-out leader in the last two games, he has also grown a moustache for charity-supporting Mo-vember that is turning heads. It is thick, bushy, manly and curls up at the end to give him a sort of World War Two fighter pilot look. "Who has the best 'Mo-tache' in the club," I asked him. "Well, I have got to back myself for the best 'mo'," he said.
