Team of the Week: November internationals, Week One

Editor

With the dust having settled on the opening weekend of the November internationals, we’ve studied the action to pick our standout players.

Ireland and Wales top our representatives with four apiece while elsewhere there’s a mix of New Zealanders, Englishmen and South Africans.

Team of the Week: November internationals, Week One

15 Jordan Larmour (Ireland): A sensational performance from Larmour. Broke the Italian defensive line brilliantly and delayed the pass expertly to set up Luke McGrath’s first-half try. He stole the show after the interval, completing a hat-trick with his third try a magnificent individual effort, as he weaved his way past defender after defender from within his own half to dot down.

14 George North (Wales): Scored a scintillating solo effort, shrugging off three would-be tacklers on his way to the try-line. Is in red-hot form for club and country at the moment. Comes in ahead of the Springboks’ Sbu Nkosi, who scored a superb try and was unlucky to be on the losing side against England.

13 Jonathan Davies (Wales): Man-of-the-match performance from the British and Irish Lions star. He kept the Scotland defence on their toes with some telling incursions. Scored a good try and was busy on defence, too. Beat three defenders and made two offloads. Looks to be getting back to the form that won him the British and Irish Lions player of the series after an injury-plagued 2018.

12 Ngani Laumape (New Zealand): The other player to score a hat-trick at the weekend. The first two tries were all about his trademark explosiveness, but for the the third, Laumape showed a deft touch to his game as he collected his own delicate grubber kick through before diving over. Meanwhile, Damian de Allende was a standout performer for the Springboks and definitely deserves a mention.

11 Jonny May (England): Wasn’t really the sort of game that suited the likes of May, but the Leicester Tigers winger did well considering the limited time and space on his hands. Was England’s busiest with ball in hand, making 51 metres from 10 carries with two clean breaks. Also beat a team-high four defenders to edge out New Zealand’s George Bridge, who impressed as a second-half substitute.

10 Richie Mo’unga (New Zealand): Was at his creative best on Saturday as the All Blacks thrashed Japan in Tokyo. Fellow New Zealand-born player Gareth Anscombe was excellent for Wales but Mo’unga was a constant threat to the Brave Blossoms’ rearguard, running for 47 metres and beating seven defenders. He was also excellent off the tee, with the fly-half kicking seven conversions.

9 Luke McGrath (Ireland): Impressed in the absence of Conor Murray as Ireland touched down eight times in Chicago. Registered two try assists and also got on the scoreboard himself to demonstrate those sniping instincts. Formed a good partnership with fly-half Joey Carbery, controlling play nicely from scrum-half, and did enough to keep his place for the game against Argentina as he edged out New Zealand’s Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi.

8 Mark Wilson (England): There were concerns in England over the number eight position following Billy Vunipola’s injury and Nathan Hughes’ suspension, but the Newcastle man allayed those fears with an assured display. Wilson is not a destructive carrier in the mould of Vunipola and Hughes but he did his bit by running a joint team-high 11 times, while the back-rower was a constant threat at the breakdown and excelled defensively.

7 Justin Tipuric (Wales): Part of a very effective Wales back-row and duly staked his claim for the position in the long-term. Despite garnering 59 caps for Warren Gatland’s men, the 29-year-old has never truly been first choice, with the inspirational Sam Warburton often in the way, but he stepped up following the former captain’s retirement. Gatland does not lack options at openside but, after running for an efficient 23 metres from seven carries and making 14 tackles, Tipuric impressed on Saturday.

6 Dan Lydiate (Wales): Was once a certainty at blindside but injuries and a lack of form has meant the Ospreys man hasn’t been the dominant force he used to be. However, Lydiate was arguably back to his best on Saturday, regularly scything opponents down and making a superb 23 tackles in all, without missing any. The flanker also contributed a bit more with ball in hand by carrying seven times, which was equal to back-row colleagues Tipuric and Ross Moriarty.

5 Pieter-Steph du Toit (South Africa): Another high class showing from the Springbok lock as he carried with purpose against England and was unlucky to come out on the losing side. Only De Allende made more carries in Saturday’s game which, for a lock, is superb.

4 Tadhg Beirne (Ireland): There wasn’t much more Beirne could have done to press his claims for more regular starts with a brace of tries capping a strong performance against Italy. 11 carries and five defenders beaten from the athletic forward as he ran hard, intelligent lines in Chicago. A mention must also go to Eben Etzebeth, who was outstanding for South Africa before injury forced him off.

3 Andrew Porter (Ireland): Take out one top class player and bringing in another seems to be a welcome trend developing for Joe Schmidt. While Tadhg Furlong is arguably the best tighthead in world rugby, Porter again proved he can be relied on with a solid shift.

2 Dylan Hartley (England): A close call between Hartley and returning All Black Dane Coles, who impressed with a try-scoring return against Japan in Tokyo. Stuart McInally also went well in defeat to Wales but we just felt Hartley did the nuts and bolts so well as the decision to start him over Jamie George was vindicated. While Malcolm Marx struggled, Hartley and England were solid at the set-piece.

1 Steven Kitshoff (South Africa): The loosehead’s stock continues to rise after another impressive performance at the coalface on Saturday at Twickenham. Kitshoff got the edge on England tighthead Kyle Sinckler at scrum time and was part of a solid Bok scrum – less said about the line-out the better – as he once again pushed his case to be first choice ahead of veteran Tendai Mtawarira moving forward.