Another thriller of a weekend in the Rugby Championship saw the Wallabies down Los Pumas by the smallest margin, whilst New Zealand’s fortress at Eden Park remained intact as the Springboks huffed and puffed but failed to perform.
Now that the dust has settled we’ve picked our Team of Round Three with the All Blacks and Wallabies boasting five representatives apiece with Argentina next best on four.
15 Andrew Kellaway (Australia): Once again put in a fantastic shift for the Wallabies, recording the most metres run in gold with 96. Juan Cruz Mallia gave everything in defeat as he also demonstrated his skills in the interplay for Argentina‘s second try.
14 Will Jordan (New Zealand): Give him an inch and he’ll take a mile. Deadly, intelligent and superb. They swapped him to the wing when the All Blacks rejigged and played magnificently. Bautista Delguy once again impressed with his finishing under pressure for Argentina.
13 Joseph Suaalii (Australia): A double try hero – scoring them when it matters, his impact for Australia becomes more and more compelling with every game. Jesse Kriel was one of the Springboks‘ better performers, whilst Lucio Cinti put in another good shift for Argentina.
12 Santiago Chocobares (Argentina): Delivered the play of the weekend with his individual break and had a massive game everywhere. Fast becoming one of the best 12s in the world, despite the work of the man in direct opposition, the tireless Wallaby, Len Ikitau, who almost grabbed the shirt.
11 Mateo Carreras (Argentina): Finished brilliantly in Townsville down the flank and deserves his place, topping the Argentinian metres made in the match. A shout out to Rieko Ioane – he didn’t carry much but he saved a certain try on the line with a brilliant hold up.
10 Beauden Barrett (New Zealand): We’re still not sure if he played predominantly at 10 or 15 once Emoni Narawa went off, but wherever he plays, he’s a rugby genius. James O’Connor was outstanding off the bench for Australia, really igniting their comeback and is our runner-up.
9 Finlay Christie (New Zealand): We could have selected any of four or five outstanding nines, but given the pressure Christie was under, his performance was a key part of the All Black win. Australia got a huge shift from their pairing, Nic White and Tate McDermott, whilst here at PR Towers we’re still wondering why Los Pumas yanked Gonzalo Garcia off with 30 to go.
The forwards
8 Harry Wilson (Australia): The heartbeat of the Wallabies, and a man that led brilliantly – keeping cool to go for the try and win in the dying moments. It took a big performance to keep the brilliant Wallace Sititi out, but Wilson was outstanding.
7 Ardie Savea (New Zealand): A day to remember. 100 Tests, an incredible personal performance and a win. He’s our player of the round, with a nod to Fraser McReight, who delivered another corker of a jackaling and carrying shift.
6 Marcos Kremer (Argentina): Los Pumas play their flanks left and right, not open and blind, and we couldn’t ignore the performance of one of the biggest humans in the sport. Massive in every aspect and takes the selection over another behemoth flank, Pieter-Steph du Toit, one of the better Boks.
5 Tupou Vaa’i (New Zealand): He feasted on the wayward throwing of South Africa and demonstrated that he’s a much better lock than he is a flank! Our runner-up is the fast improving Pedro Rubiolo of Argentina, a man really starting to impact Test rugby.
4 Nick Frost (Australia): Arguably the best poacher in the world right now and a brilliant defender of rolling mauls. It takes some performance to keep out the great Eben Etzebeth, but Frost is a worthy selection.
3 Wilco Louw (South Africa): A lonesome Springbok but he had a massive impact and almost catalysed an unlikely comeback. Argentina’s Joel Scalvi carries like a tank but might just be short of the very best scrummagers from his nation.
2 Julian Montoya (Argentina): Probably the best hooker in the world at the time of writing and once again, he was deadly accurate in his set-piece and a menace around the park. Samisoni Taukei’aho once again added huge impact off the bench for the All Blacks, as did Jan-Hendrik Wessels for the Springboks.
1 Angus Bell (Australia): A hotly debated selection at PR, given Ox Nche also put in a great day at the office; but Bell’s carrying was a key part of the Wallaby comeback – and we can’t quite work out why he’s not started every week. Answers on a postcard, please.
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