Key to victory: Smith and McCaw

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• Pics: New Zealand 21 South Africa 11
• Australia 23 Argentina 19

Now that the dust has settled in the southern hemisphere, Planet Rugby looks at the players who stole the show in the Rugby Championship.

15 Israel Dagg (New Zealand) - The All Blacks full-back is the only player to have kept his place in our team since the opening round. And based on Saturday's effort, it's clearly obvious why. Once again, Dagg was as cool as ice under the bombardment of high balls from South Africa, while - not for the first time - showcased his playmaking ability by setting up and scoring the first try.

14 Bryan Habana (South Africa) - The Bok flier reminded everyone just why he was rated the best in the business with his superb solo try that brought his team back into the game. Try of the tournament aside, Habana always ran hard when he got his chance and will be kicking himself for butchering a try-scoring opportunity early in the game.

13 Marcelo Bosch (Argentina) - Took plenty out of Australia's defence with his strong ball carrying, chased kicks with all he had and showcased his distribution skills on attack. Was also rock solid in marshalling the Pumas midfield defence.

12 Pat McCabe (Australia) - Showed he's the answer at 12 for the men in gold after bringing direction and purpose to an often pressurised Wallabies attack, whilst he was also the highest tackler in the backs for Australia. His first-half yellow card didn't prove too costly, and saved a certain try. But went from zero to hero with a crucial touchdown that kick-started Australia's fightback.

11 Digby Ioane (Australia) - The official man-of-the-match had a hard time of it in the first half thanks to some desperate defence from his opposite number opposite Gonzalo Camacho. But when Camacho was replaced, Ioane found more space to work with - the winger's finishing ability and scorching pace proving too much for the Pumas.

10 Juan Martin Hernandez (Argentina) - Gets the nod for a second week running, Hernandez plays such an enormous role in the drive and direction of the Argentina team. The Pumas pivot's tactical kicking game was once again out of the top drawer, as he dictated where on the field the game was played. Was left to rue two missed conversions though from far out on a weekend where all the team's goal-kickers struggled. Other than that though, another impressive display.

9 Aaron Smith (New Zealand) - Only played forty minutes, but made a huge impact when he came on for an out-of-sorts Piri Weepu. Smith was relegated to the New Zealand bench for a breach of team curfew, however his high-energy, try-scoring display off the pine was a big factor in the All Blacks' victory.

8 Kieran Read (New Zealand) - That assist was pretty special wasn't it? From a soon-to-be-mentioned lock's initial break and offload, number eight Read then bettered his team-mates effort by sending the ball out to a supporting Dagg. Read was also his industrious self with tackles and runs thrown in.

7 Richie McCaw (New Zealand) - He copped two cheap shots from Dean Greyling but was his typical professional self during the post-match when asked about the incident. Minutes after the assault, he was chasing down and reclaiming an Aaron Cruden penalty when many others wouldn't have bothered. A top pro.

6 Julio Faras Cabello (Argentina) - Played a big role in getting the Pumas into a winnable position but ended up on the losing side. Cabello - after an all-action 50 minutes - had the legs to stay with replacement back Juan Imhoff and was rewarded with a contentious try. He would trade it for victory.

5 Nathan Sharpe (Australia) - A much more disciplined performance as he showed a cooler head than against South Africa the week before. He came close to scoring when he was put through a gap by Quade Cooper but was held up by wing Gonzalo Camacho. Cue plenty of stick from his team-mates on Twitter.

4 Sam Whitelock (New Zealand) - We felt slightly harsh when overlooking Kane Douglas, who performed strongly on debut for Australia. But Whitelock keeps maturing in an All Black jersey and has skills many locks simply do not have - case in point being that break and offload to Read which led to the try.

3 Owen Franks (New Zealand) - While it was good to see Jannie du Plessis not give away any penalties (Dean Greyling made up for that), Franks once again was a consistent pillar for the All Blacks. It is not surprising that Steve Hansen has felt the need not to tinker at tighthead. Franks is a key cog.

2 Tatafu Polota-Nau (Australia) - It was a toss-up between Andrew Hore and the Wallaby hooker. Adriaan Strauss tried hard but struggled to have an impact (possibly due to the game-plan) while Eusebio Guiñazú was solid if unspectacular. Polota-Nau enjoyed a full game and was a cool head in their comeback.

1 Rodrigo Roncero (Argentina) - For a third straight week, the 35-year-old has made it. We were undecided as he did not perform as well as rounds two and three, but against Australia he played under the knowledge that there was no Marcos Ayerza coming on on 50 minutes. Another workmanlike and canny shift.