Rugby Championship Team of the Week: ‘Captain Springbok’ rewarded while Los Pumas lead the way after momentous victory

Following South Africa and Argentina’s victories over New Zealand and Australia in their respective Rugby Championship Tests, we select our Team of the Week.

The Springboks maintained their unbeaten record in this year’s tournament when they clinched a narrow victory over the All Blacks in Cape Town, while Los Pumas handed the Wallabies their biggest ever Test defeat in Sante Fe.

After the thrilling round of the Rugby Championship action, Planet Rugby’s James While brings you our Team of the Weekend.

Rugby Championship Team of the Week – Round Four

15 Juan Cruz Mallia (Argentina): Two tries and an assured running display sees the versatile back grab the shirt as he shone for Los Pumas. Meanwhile, Willie Le Roux was back for the Boks and once again demonstrated what an intelligent rugby player he is.

14 Cheslin Kolbe (South Africa): We switch Kolbe back to the right wing for our selection and he was outstanding in open field play without crossing for a trademark try. Sevu Reece was one of the better All Blacks as his assured performance demonstrated once again the depth of three-quarter play in New Zealand.

13 Lucio Cinti (Argentina): A magical second half performance from the Argentinian backline blew the Wallabies away and Cinti was a key component in getting around the tiring Aussie defence. Elsewhere, Jesse Kriel again showed classy touches for SA without quite hitting the heights we’re accustomed to.

12 Damian de Allende (South Africa): ‘Doogz’ kept the Springboks in the first half contest with a supreme display of carrying through contact. He defended as if his life depended on it and he just keeps out the brilliant Santiago Chocobares, another hero of Santa Fe for Los Pumas.

11 Mateo Carreras (Argentina): Slippery as an eel and as quick as any in the game, the South American flyer grabbed a crucial try to start the second half destruction of the Wallabies. In Cape Town, All Blacks star Rieko Ioane had some good moments when shifted to the wing after starting at outside centre.

‘Worldie of a performance’ from Los Pumas playmaker

10 Tomas Albornoz (Argentina): Exquisite. The young 10 took some time to get into the match but once he and his team adapted to the events in front of them, he delivered an absolute worldie of a performance and is our player of the round. A shout out for Ben Donaldson – in the time he was on the Santa Fe pitch, the Wallabies led – it was absolutely inexplicable why Joe Schmidt hooked him at half-time.

Australia butcher 17-point lead as Julian Montoya’s milestone inspires Argentina to record win

9 Cortez Ratima New Zealand): He has a really slick service and whilst there’s work to do on his kicking game, the young All Black nine was excellent for his tenure in Cape Town. Gonzalo Bertranou was another Argentinian to impress us as he and Albornoz learned how each other ticked.

8 Joaquin Oviedo (Argentina): We really could have tossed a coin between Oviedo and Juan Martin Gonzalez, but the young replacement gave us the moment of the weekend when the whole of Australia bought his magnificent and impudent dummy as he crashed over for two tries in four minutes in Los Pumas second half romp. Jasper Wiese had a solid game in Cape Town, as did his replacement, Elrigh Louw.

7 Siya Kolisi (South Africa): Playing with a facial injury from last weekend, ‘Captain Springbok’ was absolutely rampant, carrying, clearing and clattering over for a crucial try. Marcos Kremer was equally as effective and had a try chalked off in a massive all action display from a world class flank.

6 Pablo Matera (Argentina): Warrior spirit personified. He made a few handling errors in the first 30 minutes but once he’d gotten into the match, he was a focal point of excellence in everything he did. It takes some performance to ease out Pieter-Steph du Toit from the blindside, and we must also mention Wallace Sititi, absolutely brilliant in carry as the two men went head to head in Cape Town.

Springboks’ locks catch the eye

5 Ruan Nortje (South Africa): This guy is a diesel shunter, but one of the highest quality as he put in a physical performance both sides of the ball. Tupou Vaa’i continued his improvement in an all-action display for the All Blacks, whilst Guido Petti rolled back the years for Los Pumas in his 60 minute Santa Fe shift.

4 Eben Etzebeth (South Africa): When the lineout wobbled, he sorted it out. When metres need to be made, he’s there. A world class display from an all-time great of the game. A word for his opponent, Scot Barrett, who gave us a characteristically abrasive performance for New Zealand.

3 Tyrel Lomax (New Zealand): OK, he was responsible for a yellow card in the 72nd minute but up until then he’d been brilliant, making 17 tackles and nine carries in a decent showing. If Taniela Tupou could manage more than 30 minutes of a Test match he’d be an absolute worldie, but his fitness once again let him down despite a thrilling half an hour.

2 Julian Montoya (Argentina): The hardest pick of the weekend. Malcolm Marx’s try-scoring impact? Codie Taylor’s all round magnificence for 75 minutes? Well, when you get your 100th cap, carry your daughter onto the pitch, score in your milestone Test and skipper your team to an all-time record victory, then we simply have to go with the Los Pumas leader, despite the claims of two other high quality performers.

1 Thomas Gallo (Argentina): The barrel-chested prop solved a lot of his issues in the tight and treated us to a trademark frenetic and fantastic display of running and passing from a front-rower, showing us that running with ball in hand is indeed his happy place. When he gets it right he’s a joyous player to watch and he just takes the shirt ahead of the superb Ox Nche and also one of Australia’s better players, the word class Angus Bell.

READ MORE: Springboks claim epic double over All Blacks ending 15-year wait for Freedom Cup glory