Rugby Championship Team of the Week: ‘Incredible’ Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu hailed but All Blacks top the count
Springboks fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and All Blacks back-row Ardie Savea.
Another thrilling round of Rugby Championship action saw South Africa deliver a statement in Durban and New Zealand seal a hard fought Bledisloe Cup win over Australia.
Without further ado, here’s our Team of Round Five as eight All Blacks, six Springboks and one Australian make the final cut with Argentina missing out.
Rugby Championship Team of the Week
15 Will Jordan (New Zealand): Simply the best back three player in the world right now and a try machine to boot, although he didn’t get on the scoresheet this weekend. Damian Willemse ran him close, but we prefer the Springbok ace in the centres, his natural home.
14 Leroy Carter (New Zealand): Cheslin Kolbe just misses out despite his brain fade in the in-goal area, as when his try chance came, he was as lethal as ever. We go for New Zealand‘s Carter after a try in successive rounds while his work-rate was absolutely sensational. Four defenders beaten, 10 carries, five aerial reclaims and not a tackle missed. A very high quality operator.
13 Quinn Tupaea (New Zealand): A mammoth impact off the bench where he carried 11 times for over 50 metres and really closed out the brilliant Aussie comeback. He did just enough to see off the claims of Canan Moodie, who was brilliant with ball in hand but may want to consider his accuracy in his breakdown work.
12 Jordie Barrett (New Zealand): Glue, simple as that. He was an absolute rock in every aspect of his game, from aerial work to defensive effort. Len Ikitau pounded away all afternoon at the Kiwi defence, whilst in Durban, both 12s, Damian de Allende and Santi Chocobares, both had moments to remember in a great week for inside centres.
11 Caleb Clarke (New Zealand): An emotional moment as his old man sang the national anthem with as much class as he represented his country. Clarke Jnr wiped away the tears and grabbed a try in an all-action display before leaving the pitch with a niggle. Ethan Hooker was an integral part of a brilliant Bok display and his aerial work looks absolutely world class as he emerges as yet another option on the South African wings.
10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (South Africa): It’s hard to remember a better individual running performance by a Test 10 in recent times. The youngster was mercurial, incredible and exquisite all at once. By far our Player of the Week. We almost didn’t name a runner-up but it was great to see Tomas Albornoz back and scoring for Los Pumas.
9 Cam Roigard (New Zealand): The All Blacks have missed his speed and intent, that’s for sure. Roigard changed the dynamic of New Zealand in every way. Cobus Reinach may be in the salad days of his brilliant career but there’s few finer around when he’s on the front foot.
The forwards
8 Jasper Wiese (South Africa): As much as New Zealand have missed Roigard, so South Africa have missed the barreling focal carries of Wiese. He was huge yet again in a brilliant display, and takes the shirt off one of the better Pumas in defeat, Joaquin Oveido, who carried more than any other forward of the weekend despite the hammering his side received. Lastly a word for Kwagga Smith – he reminds us of a rugby dung beetle, such is his industry – and yet again, he had a massive impact off the bench.
7 Ardie Savea (New Zealand): He’s world class at eight, but he’s interplanetary at seven. An incredible shift from a rugby genius. Fraser McReight tackled his heart out (24) but couldn’t take his side to a win in Auckland.
6 Pieter-Steph du Toit (South Africa): If Feinberg-Mngomezulu won the match for South Africa, then PSDT put them in that winning position. Tireless, huge and brilliant. Tom Hooper was one of Australia’s more reliable performers as he once again demonstrated he’s really breaking through at Test level.
5 Ruan Nortje (South Africa): Los Pumas had the best lineout in the Rugby Championship until Norje dismantled them on Saturday. A brilliant performer and now a first call player for Rassie Erasmus. Fabian Holland continues to impress for New Zealand and was super abrasive in a powerful All Black shift.
4 Eben Etzebeth (South Africa): Denied a try on the line after a knock-on in the build up, Eben did Eben things all day. The nearest challenger for the shirt was the man who replaced him, RG Snyman, who put the bang into the Bomb Squad.
3 Tyrel Lomax (New Zealand): Some really big carries from a very impressive tighthead. Thomas du Toit was great in many aspect but some daft early penalties sees him marked down, with Lomax just edging the shirt.
2 Malcolm Marx (South Africa): Finally, a day to smile about despite the daft yellow card. His darts were much improved and he crossed for a well taken try. Both Codie Taylor and Julian Montoya gave their all in Auckland, with Taylor just nudging the honours while Billy Pollard was solid for the Wallabies.
1 James Slipper (Australia): In a weekend where no loosehead really shone, we’ll celebrate ‘Slips’ and his 150th cap – as he gave everything in a busy display around the park. Boan Venter did all he could to offset the absence of Ox Nche in a solid performance.
