The Super XV: Australian team of the week, Round 9

Each week we’ll be looking at the best of the best in Australian rugby and piecing together the top 15 players out of the Aussie Super Rugby sides from the round gone by.

Well, we didn’t lose every game this week so that’s something right? Right?

The Brumbies looked like causing a massive upset over in Napier when they had the Hurricanes on the back foot with a 21-14 halftime lead.

It was all a devastating downhill tumble from there, though, as the Canes piled on six tries and 42 unanswered points in the second stanza.

Over at ANZ Stadium, the Waratahs stooped to their lowest point since winning the title just three years ago, giving up a 17-0 lead and losing to the Kings at home.

The Rebels snagged the only reasonable result of the weekend for the Aussie sides when they stumbled their way to a penalty-fuelled nine-all draw with the Sharks.

The Force were the last to ply their trade, going down valiantly in a much tighter game than most expected against the Chiefs, letting in a few late penalty goals to lose 16-7.

1. Ben Daley (Force)
Coming up against a much more fancied Chiefs pack this week, Daley and the Force front row held their own for much of the contest, coming together with Tatafu Polota-Nau and Tetera Faulkner to keep the enemy pack at bay.

Daley did his job at loosehead, nearly enough to see his side home, but a solid outing nonetheless.

2. Tatafu Polota-Nau (Force)
Much in the same vein as Daley, Polota-Nau was a key factor of the Force, especially in the first half, when they had the Chiefs back-peddling a touch with the game in the balance.

While not setting the world on fire with his running game, his strength in the scrum and defensive aggression around the fringes of the ruck and close to the line were a highlight for the home side

3. Tom Robertson (Waratahs)
Now it may seem a bit ridiculous to have any Waratahs forward in the side after being completely dismantled by the Kings in Sydney, but Robertson was a rung above his fellow forwards in the Tahs and came out as the form tighthead of the week.

A tackling machine, Robertson racked up the second-most of anyone in the game as he tried to keep the Kings from rolling in the second half. As we found out though, he probably needed a bit more help.

4. Rory Arnold (Brumbies)
The first of the Brumbies to make the side this week and it’s a bit of a blunt selection, unfortunately. He was basically the best of a bad bunch with those wearing the No. 4 jersey not seeking much fortune in Round 9.

I thought Dave McDuling didn’t do too badly, but Arnold was probably the better in the scrum and lineout and did enough with ball in hand to get the nod.

5. Sam Carter (Brumbies)
Carter has found himself in the team of the week a few times already this year as he looks to knock on the door for Wallaby selection and the upcoming June internationals.

The big fella barreled over in the first half when the Brumbies were threatening with the upset, and it was that kind of hard hitting offence that had himself and the visitors piling on the early pressure.

6. Isireli Naisarani (Force)
Naisarani really turned it up as the Force’s workhorse against the Chiefs.

The blindside flanker had more runs than any other Force player in the game, taking it upon himself to keep his side rolling forward over the advantage line and often being one of the first man there at most breakdowns.

His strengths in the line out complete a very handy game for Naisarani.

7. Matt Hodgson (Force)
Coming together with the previous entry to complete the Force flank combo, Hodgson ticks a lot of the same boxes as the aforementioned Naisarani.

He was a driving force in the second half among a sea of tired legs, often carrying a few defenders with him over the advantage line and picking off an offload here and there.

His defence was solid, but it’s Hodgson’s running game that gets him in the side, evening picking up his side’s only try of the contest.

8. Amanaki Mafi (Rebels)
It wasn’t a great week for the No. 8s in terms of standout selections to pick from, but you could nearly say that about any position at any point in time this season.

Mafi has quickly established himself as one of the form players of the five Australian sides this season and despite being a part of a Rebels side short on wins, has become a picture of aggression and offensive brutality with those tree trunk legs.

No different this week. Mafi racked up the line breaks and tackle busts as he continued to be a headache for the defence, especially targeting the smaller outside backs and halves on the fringes.

9. Joe Powell (Brumbies)
Well, it certainly wasn’t going to be Nick Stirzaker again, who successfully got himself red carded this week.

I’ve had no qualms in confessing my preference for running halves and Joe Powell stood up this week with intelligent timing and spacial awareness with ball in hand.

He made a handful of tackle busts, continually selling the dummy like it was real estate and getting his nose through the line, setting up plenty of support play with a plethora of offloads.

While it wasn’t a great 80-minute performance from anyone in the Brumbies really, Powell was a steady hand, even being rewarded with a five-pointer that gave his side the lead heading into the break.

10. Bernard Foley (Waratahs)
Yes, Foley made the team, and if you don’t like this selection, you probably won’t like another one later in the list either.

It’s no secret the Waratahs loss to the Kings was embarrassing and they played terribly for the most part, but we mustn’t forget that the first half was considerably better than the second and there was some good rugby in there to get them 17 points ahead.

Foley played a major hand in three of the Tahs’ four tries, snagging a trio of try assists not just as a playmaker, but a superb support player as well. His offloading game fits right into that as well, opening up the Kings defence on a few occasions with some key passing out of the tackle.

While his goal-kicking probably cost the Tahs the game, in the end, I feel he did enough in attack to beat out a field of contenders that struggled to take control of their respective games.

11. Cam Clark (Waratahs)
Unlike Foley and many others this week in the Australian Conference, Clark was really able to piece together a good game over 80 minutes, despite the struggles of his side.

The sevens star has had a steady transition into the 15-man game, but he was able to show off those open space, free-running, broken-play skills that had him at the top of the sevens food chain against the Kings.

He was the only man to rack up triple figures for running metres, finishing nearly double the distance ahead of the next best not only for the Waratahs but the Kings as well.

He was a little fortunate to break the tackle of his 34th-minute try, but it was just reward for a blistering performance out on the wing.

12. Mitch Inman (Rebels)
Mitch Inman had an interesting game in that he didn’t seem to do a whole lot, but at second glance, he was kind of everywhere.

It was a gritty game against the Sharks and Inman was all over it, playing smart with his timing, picking when to spread out wide and holding his own out in wide in defence as the big South Africans looked to target him.

13. and 14. Tevita Kuridrani and Henry Speight (Brumbies)
The Kuridrani-Speight combo has proved to be the Brumbies’ biggest asset is recent weeks as the two big flyers continue to cause havoc out wide.

The two were easily the most effective with ball in hand, piling on more than double the amount of running metres as the next best Brumbies. Once they had the defence sliding sideways or moving backwards at all, they were finding ways to tear the Canes defence apart early in the game.

Kuridrani may have been the player of the round, setting up one try and bagging a five-pointer of his own in the first half.

Speight was the continuous beneficiary of Kuridrani’s offloads and tackle breaks, playing the supporting role to a tee, giving himself the opportunity to latch on to second phase play and work with the broken defence.

15. Israel Folau (Waratahs)
Despite the end result and a few handling errors in the second half down the left wing, in particular, Folau still had a strong game, led by a blistering first half in attack.

His try assist from scooping up the pill on his own line, dancing through defence before breaking away up to halfway to set up the support was one of the highlights of the game.

There were a few instances of his running game on display, although there are still issues with over-running when the Tahs spread it wide. He was a continuous threat at the line in the opening 40 and was a big part of the Tahs open play that had them jump out to that early lead.

Do you agree with the XV? You’re sporting fans, of course you don’t, so let us know who you think should or shouldn’t be in the side for this week.