Team of the Week: Autumn Nations Series, Round Three

James While
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With the dust having settled on the third week of the Autumn Nations Series, we have gone through the action to pick the best players from the round.

Following Ireland’s superb showing at the Aviva Stadium, where they got the better of New Zealand, Andy Farrell’s side have the most representatives. The rest of the team is then split between South Africa, England, France and Fiji.

Autumn Nations Series Team of the Week

15 Freddie Steward (England): Impressive last week, the big Tiger went up another level to score the first try versus Australia. He was also commanding under the high ball all evening, with commentator Nick Mullins memorably nicknaming him ‘Air Steward’. Argentina’s Emiliano Boffelli also impressed, whilst Hugo Keenan was part of a memorable afternoon for Ireland.

14 Damian Penaud (France): Penaud’s brace for France saw them defeat a spirited Georgia side, whilst Will Jordan again underlined his blistering pace despite New Zealand’s defeat. Manu Tuilagi wore 14 but played everywhere for England, carrying for 51 explosive metres.

13 Garry Ringrose (Ireland): The Leinsterman, plagued by injury in recent times, put in a commanding display against the All Blacks in an unforgettable evening in Dublin and is an easy choice at 13. Elsewhere there were impressive performance from Fiji’s double scorer Waisea Nayacalevu and France’s defensive leader, the outstanding Gael Fickou.

12 Bundee Aki (Ireland): In any other weekend, Damian de Allende may have again stolen the honours but Aki’s defensive shift and carrying power against the world’s finest backline makes him a standout. Owen Farrell looked rejuvenated working with Marcus Smith and he takes our last nomination.

11 Makazole Mapimpi (South Africa): People who describe South Africa as a strictly Plan A side forget the pace they possess on the wings and Mapimpi’s brace of tries was the difference in a tightly contested game in Scotland. James Lowe (Ireland) could almost be named as a joint winner this week as he was magnificent crossing for the first try in Dublin, whilst in Cardiff, Wales’ Louis Rees-Zammit reminded us all of his electric pace with a 50-metre match-winning effort.

10 Johnny Sexton (Ireland): No northern hemisphere fly-half has won more times against the All Blacks than Sexton and his experienced hand guided this Irish ship home to a wonderful win at the weekend. In Bordeaux, the mercurial Matthieu Jalibert scored his first French try, whilst Marcus Smith’s electric hands underlined his promise for England.

9 Jamison Gibson-Park (Ireland): Gibson-Park completes an all Irish half-back pairing as his hustle and bustle provided the perfect counterpoint to Sexton’s calm head. Rarely a week goes by without us admiring the brilliant Frenchman Antoine Dupont, whilst at Murrayfield, finisher Cobus Reinach was a crucial component in South Africa’s fightback to win.

8 Grégory Alldritt (France): There are few more consistent players in the world than the La Rochelle number eight and he looked as pragmatic as ever, crossing the whitewash in Les Bleus’ win over a good Georgia side. Jack Conan demonstrated his Lions learning as he hammered away at the All Black line in Ireland’s win, whilst at Twickenham, despite a defeat, Rob Valetini showed why the Wallabies rate him so highly as he was Australia’s best performer.

7 Kwagga Smith (South Africa): Yes, we know Kwagga was playing on the blindside, but his skill-set is that of an openside and he was his annoying craggy self at Murrayfield. Sam Underhill was back to his best at Twickenham, answering the critics of his breakdown work in an all-action display, whilst any openside who has beaten New Zealand, like Ireland’s Josh van der Flier, always deserves a shout out.

6 Caelan Doris (Ireland): The big flanker has recovered from his concerning head injuries and put in a commanding try-scoring display, carrying and harrying the All Black breakaways. At Twickenham, Courtney Lawes again showed he’s the most consistent six in world rugby right now.

5 Jonny Hill (England): A straight shootout between two of the biggest men in northern hemisphere rugby sees Hill, in his best international display to date, see off Ireland’s outstanding James Ryan. Meanwhile, Australia’s Izack Rodda is the master of maul defence and sacked a number of England’s chances in the Twickenham loss.

4 Eben Etzebeth (South Africa): The behemoth Springbok dragged his side over the line at Murrayfield with an immense display of abrasive rugby and was easily the best player on the pitch. Maro Itoje carried and powered England to their eight consecutive win against Australia, whilst Argentina’s Marcos Kremer needs a shout out for his try-scoring shift in the second-row against Italy.

3 Tadhg Furlong (Ireland): A great day at the office for the Wexford walloper. He carried, tackled, pushed and had a try chalked off in a typically all-action display. Vincent Koch put in a massive second half performance to secure another Springbok win in Edinburgh and in France, we saw Demba Bamba cause all sorts of impact mayhem as he defined the term ‘finisher’.

2 Sam Matavesi (Fiji): A wonderful display by the Flying Fijians in Cardiff was built upon the foundation of Matavesi’s five turnovers at the breakdown as he put in the individual performance of the weekend. Malcolm Marx gets a mention for the second weekend in a row as he and his bomb squad exploded onto the Murrayfield pitch, whilst Jamie George reminded all of his mobility in a running jaunt for England.

1 Steven Kitshoff (South Africa): The importance of the Springbok bench simply cannot be underestimated. You can, quite honestly, conclude they have the two best front-rows in the world and Kitshoff is an integral part of that. Elsewhere, Bevan Rodd, aged 21 and called up by England with two days’ notice had a memorable debut at Twickenham, whilst Ireland’s Andrew Porter showed his versatility in a powerful performance at loosehead.

England