After an opening round that saw Australia pull off the performance of the year thus far and New Zealand run through the gears to dispose of Argentina, here’s our Rugby Championship Team of the Week.
Eight Wallabies have made the cut after their stunning victory over the Springboks with the All Blacks next best with six players in the mix.
Rugby Championship Team of the Week
15 Will Jordan (New Zealand): A Rolls-Royce player with the acceleration of a McLaren. His standing up of Santi Chocobares was a moment of magic. Tom Wright recovered from a sticky start to dominate with ball in hand for Australia.
14 Sevu Reece (New Zealand): Two tries for an unassuming gun on the All Black wing were crucial in seeing off Los Pumas, who had Rodrigo Isgro put in a strong try-scoring performance. In Johannesburg, Edwill van der Merwe had a strong start for the Springboks until they ran out of steam on the Highveld.
13 Joseph Suaalii (Australia): Majestic in midfield, his power, aerial game and speed were key enablers as the Wallabies destroyed South Africa off transition. A magnificent effort.
12 Jordie Barrett (New Zealand): Added a real touch of class and toughness as he once again led by example. Santi Chocobares can be pleased with his shift for Los Pumas but will rue a missed tackle, whilst Aussie Len Ikitau is unlucky to miss out this week.
11 Max Jorgenson (Australia): The Aussies have an absolute baller in this youngster as he starts his career in the legendary Wallaby 11 shirt.
10 James O’Connor (Australia): Our very own David Campese has been campaigning for six months for ‘JOC’ to lead the Aussie attack at 10 and we can see why. He was outstanding in driving his team home to a historic win. Argentina’s Tomos Albornoz is emerging as arguably the best fly-half in the game at the moment, and his duel with Beauden Barrett was fascinating in Cordoba.
9 Nic White (Australia): If there was truth in many a good tune played on an old fiddle, then White may very well be a rugby Stradivarious. The shortest retirement in history. Tate McDermott is our runner-up as Australia got maximum output from the nine shirt. A word too for Cortez Ratima, impressive in the Kiwi romp v Los Pumas.
The forwards
8 Harry Wilson (Australia): Massive, uncompromising and a focal figure. A brilliant shift from the Aussie skipper. Joaquin Oviedo grabbed another try for Argentina as he adds even more depth to their loaded back-row stocks.
7 Fraser McReight (Australia): An absolutely all court performance and our player of the round. Tries, carries, tackles, steals, the Wallaby seven did the lot. Our runner-up comes off Los Pumas bench, as Juan Martin Gonzalez really changed the dynamic for Argentina in a very intelligent display.
6 Ardie Savea (New Zealand): OK, we’ve taken a liberty and swapped the great man to the blindside, but we’re sure he’ll be OK with that, as yet again he delivered a world class performance. Pablo Matera needs a shout out too – the Argentinian legend was a ubiquitous presence around the field whether it was carrying, tackling or jackalling and constantly made an impact.
5 Nick Frost (Australia): Whether it be his jumping or his maul disruption, Frost is a super canny operator and was at the heart of dismantling the Bok lineout. Fabian Holland delivered an impressive shift for New Zealand, and a word for the athletic Guido Petti, another Puma who helped change the Cordoba dynamic.
4 Eben Etzebeth (South Africa): He may have lost the war, but he won the Skelton battle and had some lovely personal moments with ball in hand. Scott Barrett and Will Skelton both had their high points, but Etzebeth again showed why he’s one of the greatest Boks.
3 Fletcher Newell (New Zealand): The powerlifting All Black tighthead was the key instrument to dismantle Los Pumas scrum and he succeeded in doing exactly that. His replacement Pasilio Tosi continued exactly where Newell left off as New Zealand got a lot of go forward from their scrum.
2 Samisoni Taukei’aho (New Zealand): Came up with two key plays just when Argentina were mounting a comeback as once again he defined impact. Julian Montoya will be disappointed with his team’s result, but once again he led by personal example in an impressive outing.
1 Angus Bell (Australia): A huge impact from the replacement loosehead, Bell made seven rumbling carries for some 41m as he smashed his way through the Springbok defence to make hole after hole. New Zealand’s Ethan de Groot is our runner-up, another key man for the Kiwis as scrum dominance was key in their win.