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Super Rugby Round 10: Aussie team of the week

20th April, 2014
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Israel Folau ran riot for the Waratahs. (Source: AJF Photography)
Roar Guru
20th April, 2014
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1225 Reads

Not many Australian players in were action this weekend which is as it should be. We’ve all got better things to do over Easter than watch rugby, right? Like queuing in traffic and rationing chocolate.

Nevertheless I was able to get enough of a fix to get me through another week. Without further ado, here are my picks of the bunch this week.

1. Toby Smith
Went well in the scrum against more-fancied opposition and had a pretty decent game around the park. I had to look it up but I believe he is eligible to play for Australia.

2. Nathan Charles
Nathan has played better games and isn’t the pick of the week, but with slim competition this week I’ve got to give it to him over Tatafu Polota-Nau

3. Paul Alo-Emile
Replaced Laurie Weeks early and Weeks might now struggle to get back into the starting side. Like Toby Smith, Paul Alo-Emile went well in the scrum and was good around the field.

4. Will Skelton
Huge game from the huge man. Won three turnovers, made 10 runs for 42 metres, dented the line whenever he had the ball and was damaging in defence. Adam Coleman had another good game for the Force and I thought Caderyn Neville looked good too, trying to get some more game time by impressing the coach.

5. Luke Jones
A bit of a no-brainier this one but Luke has certainly drawn attention this last few weeks and I’m keen to see how he does over the rest of the season and whether he can earn himself a gold jersey.

6. Colby Fainga’a
I’d award this to Jaques Potgeiter if I could but alas. Of the Aussies, Angus Cottrell played well again but I’ve got to again give it to Colby by a nose.

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Since that first Rebels game this season Sean McMahon hasn’t really had much game time but the Rebels are being pretty ably served by Colby. McMahon needs to be introduced a little more slowly.

7. Michael Hooper
Matt Hodgson continues to have his best ever season and racked up some impressive stats, including a mammoth 21 tackles, but I’ve still got to give this one to Hooper.

Although I could quote his carries and metre stats as a reason, the stats never tell the story of a good openside. He was the first to so many breakdowns plus he made good metres, won a couple of critical turnovers and I think just lifts the whole team.

Sure, Hodgo does it too but this week in a tight tussle I’m giving it to Hooper. Honourable mention to Fugilister too – all three opensides played well this weekend.

8. Scott Higginbotham
My impression watching the game was that McCalman had the better early but fell away, Higgers had the better second half and basically won the Rebels the game.

Looking at the stats it’s pretty even and in fact on stats alone I’d probably give it to Ben. But while I still feel Scott has holes in his game he needs to plug, I’ve got to give it to him this week.

9. Nick Phipps
Slim pickings this week for halfbacks but Phipps was pretty respectable. He’s not perfect but gutsy – tackled well against the big Bulls including making a few crucial ones.

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10. Bryce Hegarty
Bernard Foley missed two tackles and conceded three turnovers. He also had five carries compared to Bryce’s twelve. He also made me to have a Berrick Barnes flashback caused by too much kicking. Sadly he looks to be getting worse instead of better which is a real shame. Bryce was his usual solid, unflashy self.

11. Rob Horne
Rob has battled injury, positional changes, gameplan changes and now finds himself trying to earn redemption with the scraps he receives on the wing. While he’s not flawless, he was the best of the bunch this weekend, beating out much more favoured Nick Cummins and Tom English.

12. Mitch Inman
Beale played alright until subbed early in the second half but made some forward passes through what I think is overplaying his hand. The stats tell the story too: While Kurtley made 7 runs for 37 metres and 14 passes (good on offence), he made only one tackle and missed another. Mitch made more runs for slightly less metres but a very respectable 11 tackles, missing none.

13. Marcel Brache
Adam Ashley-Cooper fans will be fuming at this one but there it is. Marcel had 7 carries to Adam Ashley-Cooper’s six made about the same metres, beat two defenders to Adam Ashley-Cooper’s none, made more passes, and made 15 tackles (one miss) to Adam’s two (two missed).

That’s pretty clear-cut, isn’t it? Not sure about the Australian eligibility – I know he is US eligible. Certainly not a barnstorming performance and I’m not in any way calling for Wallaby selection but best of the two possible Australians on the weekend.

14. Cam Crawford
It often seems much easier to pick the left winger over the right and this week is no exception. Male Sa’u is not eligible for Australia. Pat Dellit was very quiet – was he on from the start? – so I’m giving it to Cam Crawford. I’m a bit of a Cam fan, truth be told, and hope he regains his form from last year.

15. Israel Folau
I just laughed when he scored after 28 seconds. My bet is teams warn each other about him before they play the Waratahs but what can you do? The trick is obviously to stop the half-breaks that lead to him getting the ball in a good position because every time there is a half break he seems to pop up out of nowhere.

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