June Tests: Team of the Week

Now that the dust has settled in the southern hemisphere, Planet Rugby looks at the men who stood out in Week Two of the June Tests.

Now that the dust has settled in the southern hemisphere, Planet Rugby looks at the players who stole the show in week two of the June Tests.

15 Leigh Halfpenny (Wales) – Thirteen points from him as he made a watching Neil Jenkins proud from the tee in Melbourne on Saturday.

14 JP Pietersen (South Africa) – He is such an intelligent winger. Pietersen demonstrated his power and pace in making four clean breaks while he also won a turnover for his side as both he and Bryan Habana once again stood tall for the Springbok cause in Jo'burg. Two quality players.

13 Brian O'Driscoll (Ireland) – It seems as though Waratahs and Australia centre Rob Horne has been around for ages but he is still only 22. His score and general effort was good but what can we say about O'Driscoll? All heart, his post-match interview with Scotty Stevenson summed up both his hunger and disappointment over the result.

12 Felipe Contepomi (Argentina) – Their game against France was never going to be pretty, but with Contepomi helping control matters outside Ignacio Mieres, the Pumas ultimately made it eight wins in their last eleven meetings with les Bleus. Freedom of Córdoba?

11 Tim Visser (Scotland) – The wait finally ended for Andy Robinson on Saturday as Visser was an eligible Scotland international. Two tries in his first Test and judging from his PRO12 scoring rate, we can expect plenty more crossings for the Dutch-born finisher.

10 Berrick Barnes (Australia) – Firstly a mention for Greig Laidlaw for another impressive performance while Dan Carter's drop-goal broke Irish hearts. But, after flying back to Sydney for the birth of his child, Barnes more than earned his money for nappies in Melbourne.

9 Ben Youngs (England) – No doubt that Leicester scrum-half Youngs was England's best player in Johannesburg. He scored two tries and also had a hand in how Toby Flood got his five-pointer so it is unlucky for Stuart Lancaster that he is now on his way home injured.

8 Thomas Waldrom (England) – Jamie Heaslip was excellent on his 50th cap for Ireland while the dynamic Louis Picamoles also put in some shift for France in their defeat, again, to Argentina. However, we look past the fact he played one-and-a-half games this week as Waldrom did more in that aforementioned 20 minutes in Johannesburg that a lot of his team-mates did. He was also man-of-the-match in the midweek game in Kimberley.

7 Sam Cane (New Zealand) – This was a tough selection as while Australia's David Pocock was solid enough and Ireland's Sean O'Brien did well, we decided that for a debut showing like this, Cane deserves his inclusion. Was a big part of turning the game in Christchurch.

6 Willem Alberts (South Africa) – 52 minutes on the field but what a 52 minutes. He carried like a Trojan once again, brushing off tacklers in a strong showing. We will look past the fact that the scrum should have been reset when he capitalised on the loose ball early on.

5 Donnacha Ryan (Ireland) – Week after week we come across Geoff Parling's name in the statistic column. The Tiger topped the England tackle count but we just felt Ryan did a bit more around the field in a pack that had plenty of dog about it. Credit too to Dan Tuohy.

4 Eben Etzebeth (South Africa) – Playing in only his second international for the Springboks, Etzebeth further enhanced his reputation in the rugby world by putting in a commanding shift in the engine room. Remind yourselves that the Stormers second-row is only 20 years old.

3 Mike Ross (Ireland) – Dropping Declan Fitzpatrick seemed a tad harsh after the Ulster prop's strong effort in Auckland. But after Ross' shift, Declan Kidney proved he made the right call. Ross was a rock at scrum-time and, like his front-row mates, played a full game.

2 Bismarck du Plessis (South Africa) – We challenge anyone to find a hooker who can do what Du Plessis does. A colossal for the Springboks on Saturday with a key try to boot.

1 Cian Healy (Ireland) – While the Beast racked up some running metres at Coca-Cola Park, it was a certain Irishman who got our vote this weekend. Healy also carried strongly but add to that him making thirteen tackles and scrummaging well and we came across our winner.

By Adam Kyriacou