Team of the Week: June Tests

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With the third and final round of June international games now a thing of the past, we take a look at which players shone over the weekend.

New Zealand, Ireland and South Africa capped off their series wins in differing style on Saturday, but there’s no Springboks in this team.

We do select three Scots and a USA representative in our line-up so without further ado, let’s take a look. Have your say in the comments.

Team of the Week: June Tests

15 Ben Smith (New Zealand): Back in his favoured position of full-back, Smith also relished being on his home patch with one try and an assist in Dunedin. Stuart Hogg was impressive for Scotland against Argentina but we opt for Smith after yet another rock steady performance in black. So reliable to Steve Hansen, the Highlanders full-back was solid in the air and ruthless when opportunities arrived.

14 Jonny May (England): One of the stand-outs from England’s tour to South Africa, he crossed once again on Saturday to make it three tries in three games. May’s pace was evident late on when he was fastest to Danny Cipriani’s smart kick, dotting down to wrap up the third Test victory. He made the most metres and beat the most defenders for his side at Newlands to take the man-of-the-match award.

13 Nick Grigg (Scotland): Didn’t have his best game nine days ago against USA but bounced back admirably against Argentina. The pocket-sized powerhouse showed his club form on Saturday, doing brilliantly to set up Blair Kinghorn’s try. A great back-up for Huw Jones.

12 Sonny Bill Williams (New Zealand): This was a tough decision as from the first-half in Dunedin we would’ve picked Wesley Fofana, who was his silky self in possession on his return to the Test fold. His try showed both power and smarts in hitting the line as France began very well. But for the consistency in performance we opt for Williams, whose offloading game caused les Bleus all kinds of issues.

11 Rieko Ioane (New Zealand): Another three tries to his tally, it’s frightening to think how many could he score in his All Black career. His first crossing was a thing of backline beauty and one that would have had coaches at all levels across the world making notes, the second was a run-in while his third showed power and pace. That’s 16 tries in 16 games for Ioane at the age of 21. Not too bad.

10 Damian McKenzie (New Zealand): With Beauden Barrett out, the Chiefs player had an opportunity to start in the fly-half jersey and he took it superbly. McKenzie’s tactical kicking was far better this weekend and the speedster is always dangerous when the game begins to break up, as it did in the second period. The 23-year-old ran for an impressive 91 metres, made two clean breaks and beat three defenders as he edged out Scotland’s Adam Hastings, who impressed against Argentina in Resistencia.

9 George Horne (Scotland): The Glasgow Warriors half-back has enjoyed a fine season in the PRO14 and he took that form into the game against the Pumas. Horne has run excellent support lines throughout the campaign and that was in evidence in the two tries the 23-year-old scored, while his service was sharp from the base. He combined superbly with Hastings and will no doubt be firmly in contention to start in November after this excellent showing. England’s Ben Youngs was much improved on Saturday while Conor Murray controlled proceedings superbly for Ireland, but the livewire Scotsman deserves his place.

8 Cam Dolan (USA): David Pocock had another excellent game for Australia but we felt the Eagles man deserved it after showing his poacher’s instinct to score a hat-trick against Canada. Dolan carried well, running for 47 metres with two clean breaks and three defenders beaten, but the number eight was also impressive in defence after making 15 tackles. Although Pocock was a constant menace at the breakdown against Ireland, displaying his strength and technique to win several turnovers, the USA back-row gets the nod.

7 Tom Curry (England): May was given the official man of the match award but it really should have gone to the Red Rose’s openside flanker, who was outstanding as Eddie Jones’ charges finally claimed a victory. Curry has been a shining light in a pack going backwards but, with the front five finally gaining some ascendency at Newlands, it allowed the Sale Sharks player to show a wider range of skills. The flanker gained a couple of breakdown turnovers, linked well with Danny Cipriani for May’s try and often stopped the South Africans on, or behind, the gainline.

6 CJ Stander (Ireland): Moved to blindside with Jack Conan coming into the number eight slot and the 28-year-old produced his best performance for some time. Perhaps the addition of an extra ball carrier in the back-row aided Stander, with the Munster stalwart looking far more explosive in contact. The 26-times capped Ireland international consistently made ground and it often took more than two Australians to bring him down. Elsewhere, Chris Robshaw (England) thrived in the wet weather at Newlands while Shannon Frizell enjoyed a fine debut for New Zealand.

5 Scott Barrett (New Zealand): The Crusader came into the All Blacks’ Test squad as a replacement for Brodie Retallick, who is arguably the world’s best lock, and saved his best performance for the last Test against France in Dunedin. Barrett did well as a ball carrier but made his biggest impact on defence and finished with a game-high 19 hits.

4 Devin Toner (Ireland): The Leinsterman was part of a superb forward effort against Australia in Sydney which paved the way to victory for the Six Nations champions. Toner stood tall in the line-outs but also made his mark on defence, especially around the fringes of the rucks and mauls, and eventually made seven tackles. Beats out Joe Launchbury of England.

3 Tadhg Furlong (Ireland): Continued to enhance his reputation after delivering another excellent performance in his side’s series clinching win over the Wallabies in Sydney. While not as effective on attack, like in the second Test in Melbourne, Furlong was still a willing ball carrier, impressed in the scrums and also did well on defence with nine tackles.

2 Stuart McInally (Scotland): The Scots were in a dominant mood as they put Argentina to the sword in Resistencia and McInally was at the heart of that effort as he led from the front as the side’s captain. McInally missed Scotland’s Tests against Canada and the USA through injury but made up for lost time with a fine all-round showing. Gained 35 metres on attack from eight carries with one clean break, a defender beaten, an offload and was rewarded with a try for his efforts. Also made eight hits on defence.

1 Joe Marler (England): Came into England’s run-on side as a replacement for the injured Mako Vunipola and justified his selection with a fine performance in difficult conditions in Cape Town. Marler did what was expected of him in the scrums and stood up well in his direct duel with Frans Malherbe, also catching the eye on defence and finished with nine tackles.

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