Autumn series Team of the Week: 'Back with a vengeance' - Taniela and Slips excel, ABs dominate with eight picks

Week two went next level in the drama and force of the north-south conflict. Despite the win-loss count, the south made some ground back.

North No. 1 (Ireland) struggled to put an experimental version of South Africa (south No. 2) away, their attack stymied and depending on marginal passes, looking spent in the last ten minutes and like the final whistle came none too soon, even angering their home crowd by the blatantly time-killing ways in the last three minutes.

North No. 2 (France) had to rely on a last minute fend by the excellent Damian Penaud on three Wallaby defenders to sneak their win over Australia (south No. 3).

Scotland laboured to a victory over Fiji.

England (north No. 3) had all they could handle against south No. 4 (Argentina); in the end, they surrendered a bit meekly on their home patch.

The Roar rugby experts Brett McKay, Harry Jones and Jim Tucker come together for another Instant Reaction from the Wallabies’ Spring Tour of Europe, a heartbreaking 30-29 loss to France in Paris

South No. 1 New Zealand absolutely battered Wales, as they should, actually, but seem to do more definitively than power teams manage to do.

At home, you would expect the best three teams of the North to win more convincingly. They won two squeakers; lost one.

Much of that came down to the play at scrumhalf. A power ranking of Nines reshuffled this weekend:

Rather than (1) Dupont (2) Smith (3) Hendrickse (4) Murray (5) White (6) Bertranou (7) Gibson-Park (8) Youngs (9) de Klerk (10) Price; after Week 2, I’d rank them (1) Smith (2) White (3) Dupont (4) Gibson-Park (5)
Bertranou (6) de Klerk (7) Murray (8) Hendrickse (9) Price (10) van Poortvliet. For now.

The Team of Week Two

Fullback: Jock Campbell did very well at his core functions except for that one last tackle. In that situation, the fend is to be expected; but the hips are in a rather fixed position because space has tightened.

Chest at hip height, head at the bum, and launch, son. Beauden Barrett was very good, but was charged down, which is going to be my veto card. Willie le Roux played fullback-flyhalf and very nearly brought the Boks to what would have been a dispiriting (for the hosts) win over the Irish, who were well-served by smooth Hugo Keenan.

But my fullback of the round will be French No. 15 Thomas Ramos, who not only kicked with uncanny accuracy, but was also full of dash with ball in hand. In tight Tests, goals will nearly always prove difference (see South Africa’s loss). For utility reserve, keep le Roux in mind.

Jock Campbell of Team Australia in action during the Autumn Tour match between France and Australia at Stade de France on November 05, 2022 in Paris, France. (Photo by Xavier Laine/Getty Images)

Right wing: Damian Penaud. That’s all.

Outside centre: Here we have several strong candidates. There is the non-13 Rieko Ioane who keeps outplaying ‘proper’ centres, but he is not picked because of that pass.

Len Ikitau made a statement. Up against the formidable Gael Fickou, his clever kicks and passes were just about right. Garry Ringrose kept the Irish midfield in it, despite four missed tackles, because those whiffs were incursions and therefore ‘good’ misses. But we will play 10/10 tackle Puma Matias Moroni at No. 13, because he read the game so well.

Inside centre: Lalakai Foketi was looking like Man of the Match until he pulled up hurt. Damian de Allende went through the heavy traffic in Dublin and beat four defenders. Jordie Barrett looks like he is here to stay; but he would fit nicely on the bench for the week. Jonathan Danty is an excellent both-sides player. Jeronimo de la Fuente made 11 good tackles. Pick any of these without quarrel. But I have to pick one. I will go with Danty, who was key to the French escape. I will nickname him Papillon, now.

Left wing: The strange story of Mack Hansen continues. He does not seem the answer, but maybe I don’t know the right question. All seven of his carries and all 53 of his metres were adventures.

Joe Cokanasiga showed brief moments of why poor ($1.5 million) Eddie Jones believes in him. Darcy Graham scampered 83 metres in just 11 eventful carries against powerful Fiji. But our left wing will be super boot Emiliano Boffelli with his 25 points (not only with boot) at Twickenham. What Rassie Erasmus would have given for that kind of kicker-winger.

(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Flyhalf: Richie Mo’unga, Jonny Sexton and Santiago Carreras have a real battle here. Mo’unga was on a mission. Carreras skinned Marcus Smith and Owen Farrell. But Sexton was the difference in the Irish win over South Africa and has been the difference for his team in most of their biggest wins. He is older than Morne Steyn (who surely would have denied him) but somehow indestructible. Mo’unga will take the bench as reserve ten, meaning I will have to choose between a Barrett and le Roux for Player 23.

Halfback: Nic White outplayed Antoine Dupont. He caught him. He charged him down. He flustered him. Perhaps it was the Raynal Revenge. Gonzalo Bertranou continued his white hot 2022 form. He was in most teams of The Rugby Championship. He was immense in the delicious Michael Cheika masterpiece win over Randwick rival Jones.

But Jamison Gibson-Park played starter minutes off the bench to trigger the dormant Irish phase attack; Faf de Klerk and Jack van Poortvliet did the same for their teams. All in all it was a fine weekend for halfback play. But Aaron Smith showed why nobody should write him off just yet, he loves playing in Cardiff, and when he overpraised Dupont, there was a hidden edge to it. Stay tuned.

No. 8: This is impossible. Ardie Savea, Greg Alldritt and Caelan Doris were all completely different in style and all magnificent. ‘There are many trees in the forest and they are all different but they are all beautiful.’ Oh, and Matt Fagerson made 23 of 24 tackles and all of them were of Fijians, which means he is in traction tonight. Rob Valetini was all over the place. They are all amazing!

Yeah, well that won’t do. So, I will make the call that even though Doris provided 12 strong carries and that one magic moment on the right touchline to allow a team try, and even though I often find myself thinking Alldritt is the best player on this wonderful French team; it is Savea who takes it at eight.

Blindside: These guys worked. Shannon Frizell continues his quest to answer the ‘who is our next Jerome Kaino’ problem. Pieter-Steph du Toit was tireless and back to something close to his 2019 form in Dublin. But Marco Kremer made about 20 tackles and they weren’t merely little stops. He is terminating runs.

Openside: Michael Hooper showed why he is an all-time Wallaby great. He was flying in France. Dalton Papali’i’s new hair seems to make him faster. But tip your hat to Josh van der Flier, who found a way to score a try in the forest with tanks rolling over him. He also made 15 of 15 tackle attempts against the Boks who made quite a few line breaks.

Lock: We are living in a Golden Era of locks: athleticism at over 2 metres and smart, too. Picking two will be tough; hell, even three is a bother. It was back to Test rugby for Richie Gra (15 of 15 tackles), who surely would have made it tougher on the Wallabies last week. Lood de Jager lost his shoulder again early in Dublin; enter Mr. Fix It Franco Mostert, who did so well to score a superb try, hit the most rucks, and make ten tackles.

Eben Etzebeth’s bad games are most other locks’ best games. He made a peach of an offload try assist to Kurt-Lee Arendse, made all 16 of his tackle attempts, and carried a dozen times. But was he was outdone by James Ryan? Ryan had one key lineout steal from Etzebeth, but also made 14 brutal tackles; it was his best match since Andy Farrell took over.

Will Skelton had a big cameo. Sam Whitelock made 13 tackles and ruled the lineout; is he the true All Black captain now? What of Tomas Lavanini? I met a classmate of his in Dublin, the daughter of a brain surgeon in fact, who told me Lavanini is a sweet guy. But you had to see her; and then you’d know this was compromised intel.

The big Puma enforcer outplayed all the English locks. All of them. Tough choice here, but the quality of the opposition has to factor in, so it is Ryan and Etzebeth in an odd pairing, with Mostert in a jersey he is familiar with: number 19.

Tighthead prop: Tyrel Lomax and Taniela Tupou seem to be the best here. It was not a week for number threes. French, Irish, English and South African props did not have their best performances. On the other hand, Lomax had 57 good, hard minutes. The renaissance of the Kiwi props is turning into one of the stories of 2022. But he will be on our bench, with Queensland hero Tupou on absolute fire in Paris. He was back with a vengeance, and dominated one tackle so well I have still not seen which unfortunate Frenchman it was.

Hooker: Julian Montoya must get massive credit for the win at Twickers, but on sheer play alone, I thought tireless athlete Dan Sheehan and resurgent Codie Taylor topped the list. Dave Porecki gets honourable mention. He is such a tidy player. Sheehan or Taylor? Tomay-to, tom-arto sauce ($3 type). I’ll start Sheehan who was up against Malcolm Marx, no mug.

Loosehead: The battle at Aviva was so attritional and rugged even props seemed to drop off. Also, the way the scrums were adjudicated left all fans in the stands scratching their heads. The Twickenham scrums were no better. Tomas Gallo is a beast with the ball, but bullied without it. So, we once again turn to an Aussie and a Kiwi: Ethan de Groot and James Slipper. Slips was not perfect at scrum, but he won the first crucial call and that matters a lot away from home at the Paris disco with DJ Peyper.

Team of the Week:

Thomas Ramos (France), Damian Penaud (France), Matias Moroni (Argentina), Jonathan Danty (France), Emiliano Boffelli (Argentina), Johnny Sexton (Ireland), Aaron Smith (New Zealand), Ardie Savea (New Zealand), Josh van der Flier (Ireland), Marcos Kremer (Argentina), James Ryan (Ireland), Eben Etzebeth (South Africa), Taniela Tupou (Australia), Dan Sheehan (Ireland), James Slipper (Australia).

Bench:

Codie Taylor (New Zealand), Tyrel Lomax (New Zealand), Ethan de Groot (New Zealand), Dalton Papali’i (New Zealand), Franco Mostert (South Africa), Gonzalo Bertranou (Argentina), Richie Mo’unga (New Zealand), Jordie Barrett (New Zealand).

Coach of the round: Michael Cheika.

New Zealand 8
Ireland 4
Argentina 4
France 3
South Africa 2
Australia 2