Another weekend full of cards, collisions and comebacks saw Argentina provide us with the performance of the round, closely followed by England and the Springboks.
There’s a lot to unpack given the quality of action so here’s our Team of the Week.
15 Mack Hansen (Ireland): A towering hat-trick display from one of Andy Farrell’s most trusted men, Hansen’s triple came in just 27 minutes. Damian Willemse gave us a giant of a performance in adversity from the big Bok utility back, his impact was absolutely undeniable. England‘s Marcus Smith added a lot when replacing Freddie Steward, whilst Juan Cruz Mallia may well have taken the shirt this week was it not for a yellow card.
14 Rodrigo Isgro (Argentina): A brilliant aerial display all afternoon and one of the superstars of Los Pumas‘ monstrous second half, Isgro’s ability to catch and regather is the stuff of legend. On his 50th cap Darcy Graham did many things well for Scotland and England’s try scorer, Tom Roebuck, also shone at Twickenham.
13 Ollie Lawrence (England): Lawrence treated us to every trick of the outside centre’s armoury as he scored one, made one for Fraser Dingwall, and hammered the All Black line all afternoon. Nacho Brex delivered a really classy shift in defeat for Italy, whilst Justo Piccardo scored the try of his life in the Murrayfield chaos. Dylan Riley was immense for Japan and was unlucky not to finish on the winning team, whilst Nicolas Depoortere grabbed a brace for France in a muscular display.
12 Ethan Hooker (South Africa): Some say that Hooker’s best position could be at 12 where his size and power come into their own and he delivered a compelling performance for the Springboks when they were down to 14 men. England’s Fraser Dingwall is a player that goes under the radar but there’s little doubt he put in his best performance yet at Test level on Saturday whilst Santiago Chocobares toiled his heart out for 80 at Murrayfield.
11 Mateo Carreras (Argentina): He’s worth his place for that one pick up on the run alone. Immense. Fiji’s Jiuta Wainiqolo gave us a brilliant personal performance in defeat in the Bordeaux rain as he was the one bright light in an otherwise dismal match. Mentions also go to the silky Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and the destructive, all-action Leicester Fainga’anuku as the number 11s at Twickenham put on a show.
10 Santi Carreras (Argentina): Until 4.50pm last night, George Ford was inked in at 10 in our Team of the Week. However, Carreras spent his afternoon ripping up the formbook and he does the same to our team selection! Amazing – simply compelling; a season defining performance and one that all in rugby, especially in Scotland, will never forget. Easily our Player of the Week.
9 Jamison Gibson-Park (Ireland): Great control from the base and a really big statement win by Ireland that is possibly going a little under the radar. Gibson-Park sneaks the shirt from his Lions teammate, Alex Mitchell, who missed a couple of tackles against New Zealand but got a lot of pace and snarl into the England performance.
The forwards
8 Ben Earl (England): There’s a queue of performances at eight this week to chose from; Olly Cracknell, Caelan Doris (when he switched from flank), Kwagga Smith for impact, Jack Dempsey for his early form for Scotland, and also Peter Lakai, brilliant in defeat for New Zealand. But Earl once again led so many of the England metrics as he delivered yet another classy display from the back of the scrum.
7 Juan Martin Gonzalez (Argentina): For 50 odd minutes, Gonzalez was the glue that just about held Los Pumas together when they were under the cosh. For the next half an hour, he delivered killer blow after killer blow to the Scots, whether making ridiculous metres down the middle, catching some incredible restarts or acting as the link man in the waves of attack, a fitting way to celebrate his 50th Test appearence. Alex Mann did well for Wales as they turned their fortunes around, whilst Sam Underhill and Fraser McReight reminded us both of their world class credentials for England and Australia.
6 Pablo Matera (Argentina): Who else? Words are not enough to describe the emotional and leadership impact the old warrior gave us at Murrayfield. He strolled on, grabbed the game by the scruff of its neck and simply refused to take the scoreboard seriously. A defining performance. England’s Guy Pepper and Ireland’s Ryan Baird are our runners-up, but even they are some distance behind the great Puma.
Latest World Rugby rankings: England displace Ireland after emphatic victory over the All Blacks
5 Ruan Nortje (South Africa): We had to have one of the big Saffer forwards in the mix given how they adapted to yet another early Christmas card, and Nortje was great value shifting a lot of work. Argentina’s Pedro Rubiolo scored a vital try as he stayed the 80 minute course in Scotland, whilst James Ryan might have nicked the place had it not been for his horrendous and unpunished croc role, which we’re sure will attract the eagle eye of the citing commissioner.
4 Charles Ollivon (France): Le Boss is finally back and he was the one Frenchman to come out in credit in Bordeaux, as he scored a try, stole three lineouts, took nine of his own and generally reminded us that he’s an absolute world class player. England’s Maro Itoje gave a really understated but relentless display of tackling and tightwork, whilst Guido Petti did everything he could to hold the Argentina forward effort together.
3 Joe Heyes (England): Vastly improved and both he and Fin Baxter trollied a very high quality New Zealand scrummaging outfit. Keiron Assiratti demonstrated his personal improvement for Wales, whilst Ireland’s Tadhg Furlong answered a few of the ringing critics of the Irish set-piece.
2 Dewi Lake (Wales): Lake gets in for his leadership and his clout as a recognition for Wales finally closing a test out. Wales reacted well to those closing minutes and Lake is clearly a key player for them moving forward. Julian Montoya rumbled and rolled all afternoon, and his replacement, Ignacio Ruiz carried on where Montoya left off. Codie Taylor was once again a rock for the All Blacks, whilst Ewan Ashman is one Scot who can hold his head up high.
1 Danilo Fischetti (Italy): For the second week running the pocket rocket grabs the loosehead berth after a monumental scrummaging display. He coped well with the South African tightheads going across and in, and his technical strength kept him legal and solid as Italy thrived in the set-piece. Fin Baxter underlined his progress in a clever display for England. Thomas Gallo defined impact in his bowling ball display for Los Pumas off the bench.