Rugby Championship Team of the Week: Key All Blacks bounce back as Damian McKenzie puts in ‘compelling display’ but Springboks edge the count
Damian McKenzie and Aphelele Fassi make our Team of the Week.
After a rather damp weekend in Round Two of the Rugby Championship, Planet Rugby brings you our Team of the Week as we examine the key performers in Auckland and Perth.
Victories were claimed by the All Blacks and Springboks as the tournament now takes a week’s breather before the action reconvenes in La Plata and Johannesburg.
Before looking ahead, however, let’s single out the players who deserve praise from Saturday’s action as we reveal our Rugby Championship Team of the Round Two.
The backs
15 Aphelele Fassi (South Africa): A consummate display from another of Rassie Erasmus’ young guns, the full-back looked to the manner born as he opened the scoring in the Perth downpour. His opposite number Tom Wright was one of the better Wallabies in defeat, whilst Beauden Barrett was his usual classy self in Auckland.
14 Will Jordan (New Zealand): Rumours of lingering injury issues, together with most of the Los Pumas defence, were put behind the Kiwi flyer, as he grabbed a brilliant brace. South Africa‘s Cheslin Kolbe shredded the Wallabies on a couple of occasions to underline his class.
13 Jesse Kriel (South Africa): Is there a more consistent player in World Rugby? We think not. The centre was a rock in defence and a spark in attack in a great 80 minute shift. Rieko Ioane was solid without settling the 13 debate conclusively for the All Blacks.
12 Jordie Barrett (New Zealand): Anonymous in Wellington, brilliant in Auckland, you can’t keep a good player down. It was his chip against the Argentinian rush defence that opened the scoring for New Zealand. Santiago Chocobares was one of Los Pumas’ better players in a crushing defeat, whilst Lukhanyo Am switched seamlessly to 12 as if he’d played there all his life.
11 Makazole Mapimpi (South Africa): One of our tougher picks as Caleb Clarke nipped over for a score for the All Blacks, but the Springboks wing dominated the airways on a filthy day and could have scored a couple if things had gone his way.
10 Damian McKenzie (New Zealand): A compelling display from our player of the weekend as he adapted his natural running style to deliver territorial control off the boot and also nipped over for the opening try. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu might not have had the impact of last weekend but he’s on a learning curve and did well in the filthy conditions in Perth. A word too for Australia’s Noah Lolesio, a man whose name suggests he’s used to performing in biblical rain – and he did just that.
9 TJ Perenara (New Zealand): Roundly pilloried for an average showing in Wellington, the veteran scrum-half was back to his best as his boot gave the All Blacks crucial go forward. Nic White may have been on the losing side for the Wallabies but he drew upon all of his northern hemisphere wet weather knowledge to gather some respect for the home team.
The forwards
8 Ardie Savea (New Zealand): He was completely outplayed last weekend but, like Perenara, answered his critics with a try scoring all action performance both sides of the ball. Australia’s Harry Wilson showed his abrasion and promise in defeat, whilst Elrigh Louw had a quietly impressive match in Perth.
7 Marco van Staden (South Africa): The solid citizen of Pretoria was assured on both sides of the ball for South Africa, grabbing a maul try and hammering some big hits in defence. Dalton Papali’i was one third of a much improved All Black back-row display but it was also pleasing to see Sam Cane trot on to win his 96th cap once Papali’i had finished his shift.
6 Ethan Blackadder (New Zealand): Critics were calling for his head after a below par performance in Round One but he came back fighting in a brilliant display of abrasive wet weather loose forward play to drive his team to victory. Not a week goes by without us mentioning the great Pieter-Steph du Toit and once again the Bok behemoth was in fine fettle as he returned to the flank after his reluctant sojourn at lock.
5 Ruan Nortje (South Africa): Planet Rugby has been championing the skills of this wonderful young Bulls lock for some time now and he didn’t disappoint in a superbly abrasive and intelligent performance. New Zealand’s Sam Darry is another youngster finding his way into Test rugby and he impressed us once again in Auckland.
4 Eben Etzebeth (South Africa): He was looking forward to putting his feet up with a cup of tea on the bench but when Salmaan Moerat went off for a HIA, South Africa’s finest trotted on and delivered yet another worldie. We could have tossed a coin for our tighthead lock as Tupou Vaa’i was also in fine fettle for the All Blacks, answering a few of the harsh criticisms that have come his way.
3 Tyrel Lomax (New Zealand): Much to his dismay he had one scrummage last weekend but he made up for it in Auckland as he gave Thomas Gallo a torrid time in the tight. Thomas du Toit was up against the world class Wallaby Angus Bell in Perth but gave a fine account of himself, particularly prominent in the defensive exchanges.
2 Malcolm Marx (South Africa): After Johan Grobbelaar’s first half shocker in the line-out, Marx skipped onto the pitch and stopped the rot, crossing for two tries and delivering a much improved set-piece. Codie Taylor gave New Zealand another solid outing making a key covering tackle on Juan Martin Gonzalez which ultimately resulted in Clarke’s try.
1 Tamaiti Williams (New Zealand): A mammoth display from a huge man as he smashed both Puma tightheads into submission and still had the energy to run around the pitch like a spring lamb. A word for Australia’s Angus Bell – the Wallabies have missed this wonderful athlete hugely and although he only went 40 minutes he solidified the hosts’ scrum and made some telling hits in the loose. It was great to see a world class player returning to action.
