Rugby Championship Team of the Year: Nine Springboks and three All Blacks as Eben Etzebeth ‘sets every standard’
Springboks prop Wilco Louw, All Blacks star Ardie Savea and South Africa's Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
As South Africa romped to their second successive Rugby Championship title, every team had their moments in a topsy-turvy season of result turnarounds. It’s true to say that all four sides moved forward and grew in one form or another, which makes picking a best XV a tough task.
Nevertheless, based on a combination of statistics, subjective impact and player ratings, we’ve crunched the numbers, moved a few players around positionally, and present our Rugby Championship Team of the Year.
Rugby Championship Team of the Season
15 Juan-Cruz Mallia (Argentina): Most metres made, third most defenders beaten, third most offloads, one aerial spill out of 29 attempts makes Mallia as essential for Los Pumas as he is for Stade Toulousain. A truly world-class player that goes under the radar, his credentials were so impressive that we made way for him by selecting the brilliant Will Jordan in his other favoured position on the left wing.
14 Cheslin Kolbe (South Africa): Yes, he made some errors when trying to overplay, but the little man still defies the laws of physics in his carrying and jumping. Second in the try-scoring list, top of the clean breaks, put simply, he sets the standard of wing play. A shoutout to Bautista Delguy, Leroy Carter and Max Jorgensen, who all had memorable seasons.
13 Joseph Suaalli (Australia): World-class, it’s as simple as that. Four tries, dominant in the air, and some sumptuous offloading and inside plays demonstrate a complete game. Arguably the best 13 in the world right now, although we also enjoyed great moments from Quinn Tupaea and Jesse Kriel.
12 Jordie Barrett (New Zealand): There were four brilliant inside centres featured this year. Santi Chocobarres is now, without doubt now a world-class talent, whilst both Damian de Allende and Len Ikitau made huge impacts. But it was a choice between Santi and Jordie, and the All Black just shaded it.
11 Will Jordan (New Zealand): Given that he and Mallia can play anywhere across the back three and both did shifts as an additional ten, we had to get them both in. They can argue who stands where, but we want them both in our team. A shout-out to Rodrigro Isgro, the best aerialist in the world, and Caleb Clarke.
10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (South Africa): Beauden Barrett was superbly consistent before injury, but the way SFM10 got crowds on their feet and tongues wagging is something the sport needs. Tomás Albornoz is capable of similar feats, but injury curtailed his impressive season, though Santiago Carerras performed well in his absence.
9 Cobus Reinach (South Africa): Possibly the hardest choice we had to make, with Cam Roigard, Nic White, Grant Williams, Tate McDermott, Jake Gordon and Gonzalo Garcia all having huge impacts at various points throughout the tournament. But Reinach is ageing like a fine Stellenbosch red, and his comeback sparked the Boks in their two big 40-point wins.
Springboks dominate the pack
8 Jasper Wiese (South Africa): He was the ballast that righted the rocky Springbok ship. Nothing flashy, always direct, always on the line of the laws, he got them momentum from the base where others had failed. He missed the start of the competition due to suspension but went three from three, steering South Africa over the line. Joaquin Oviedo was staggeringly impressive and his numbers speak for themselves, whilst Harry Wilson had a season to remember as both player and skipper.
7 Ardie Savea (New Zealand): He’s a top drawer eight but he’s an all-time great at seven (openside, or six in SA and Arg). His ability to get into the wide channels and demonstrate pure raw pace sets him apart. Fraser McReight was world-class all tournament, Pablo Matera had some massive performances, and Kwagga Smith also needs a shout-out somewhere in the back-row as our selection panel were spoiled for choice at openside.
6 Marcos Kremer (Argentina): On the blindside (seven in SA and Argentina), it was a straight toss-up between Kremer and Pieter-Steph du Toit, two man-mountains, and as physical as you like. However, Kremer’s stats are remarkable; most tackles in the tournament (83), most dominant tackles (34!), most post-contact metres by a forward (89), as he was immense in every aspect of his game. We know our SA readers will disagree with our selection, but they’d probably concede that if this boy was from Bloem, he’d have a statue on every street corner..
5 Ruan Nortje (South Africa): Nortje has settled the debate on the Bok second lock. The man is what coaches call a glue player, never flashy, but always delivering the goods. Will Skelton has massive moments, but can’t match Ruan’s resilience. We also enjoyedFabian Holland’s debut season and we’ll be watching him with interest.
4 Eben Etzebeth (South Africa): This is where subjective measurement comes in. Nick Frost took the most lineouts (17) and most steals (6) of the tournament. It’s hard to say he wasn’t the most successful four lock, but we’d argue that Etzebeth still is the man who sets every standard going, and we know who we want in our team. Well, him or RG Snyman. Who’d be a selector, eh?
3 Wilco Louw (South Africa): It was always going to be a man in green, and we feel that ‘Quadzilla’ just shaded it compared to his rival, Thomas du Toit. Taniela Tupou can be mercurial at times, but the key words there are ‘at times’ and he still is no more than a half a game man.
2 Malcolm Marx (South Africa): Up until Round Six, Julian Montoya’s name was inked into our team of the year, but Marx grew stronger and better as the tournament progressed, banishing his lineout woes and scoring for fun, delivering an epic personal outing in Round Six. He’s back, just when the Boks needed him most.
1 Ox Nche (South Africa): A shoo-in and he rightly completes an all-Springbok front five. Devastating at times, a silent smiling assassin that wins games, it’s as simple as that. Angus Bell and James Slipper both had outstanding campaigns for the Wallabies and we must commend ‘Slips’ on an iconic and durable career, as he retires as the third most capped player in Test rugby history.