RWC XV of Week 3

Another sensational win for Japan, England dumped out of their own Rugby World Cup and both Australia and South Africa finding form at the perfect time.

The third week of the RWC has given us more talking points than any other week so far and here is our XV of the week for seven days of rugby that will live long in the memory.

15. Ayumu Goromaru, Japan

Gormaru has been not just one of the stars of the Tier 2 nations, he’s been one of the best players at the entire tournament, regardless of tier. At a position dominated by the likes of Ben Smith and Israel Folau, it’s a credit to the attacking endeavour and guile of Goromaru that we are talking about him more than any other 15 at the RWC.

14. Asaeli Tikoirotuma, Fiji

Honourable mentions for Santiago Cordero and Telusa Veainu, but Tikoirotuma was in resplendent form at the Millennium Stadium last week. The winger encompassed everything that there is to love about Fijian rugby, playing with ambition, flair and a physical edge that made him a constant threat to the tired Welsh defence.

13. Paul Perez, Samoa

Samoa were almost entirely abject against Japan on Saturday, but if they had one redeeming feature, it was the play of their outside centre. Perez was the only Samoan player to consistently trouble the Japanese defence, as well as being one of the few to keep his discipline throughout the 80 minutes.

12. Wesley Fofana, France

Graceful and powerful are two apt words to describe Fofana’s performance against Canada, as the Frenchman played with real verve outside of an in-form Frederic Michalak. France need Fofana to be hitting form ahead of their vital clash with Ireland this weekend and it looks like he is doing just that.

11. Julian Savea, New Zealand

It was a disjointed All Blacks performance against Georgia on Friday evening but the big fillip for Steve Hansen will be the performance of his star winger, Savea. The Hurricane blitzed the Georgian defence for three tries and looked back to his physical and instinctive best.

10. Bernard Foley, Australia

The Waratah quickly erased any doubts over his selection with one of the more consummate displays so far at the RWC. His two tries, both of which were beautifully crafted, were daggers to the heart of England, whilst 18 points with the boot took the game well beyond the reach of the host nation.

9. Gareth Davies, Wales

Fourie du Preez and Fumiaki Tanaka both deserve honourable mentions for their performances but Davies, fresh from heroics against England, tormented the Fijian defence last week. His crisp distribution and darts around the fringes kept the Fijians guessing and allowed Wales to exert themselves on the Islanders enough to secure the win.

1. Keita Inagaki, Japan

Not for the first time in this tournament, the Japanese scrum prospered this weekend. Whether they were orchestrating their trademark quick strikes down the ‘0.5 channel’ or holding the ball at the base and driving the Samoan scrum backwards, the Japan scrum, led by Inagaki, was uncontainable on Saturday afternoon.

2. Shota Horie, Japan

Inagaki’s teammate joins him in this XV thanks to a good all-round performance, but in particular for his seemingly spectacular ability to actually hook the ball at the scrum. Horie’s work at the scrum and lineout was excellent and would have been warmly welcomed by a number of Tier 1 teams this past week.

3. Manasa Saulo, Fiji

The Fijian scrum is the gift that keeps giving at this RWC and Saulo has spearheaded it. He was at his very best last week, comprehensively taking apart Gethin Jenkins in Cardiff. It’s hard to think of a player who has boosted their profile as much over the last few weeks as Saulo.

4. Joe Launchbury, England

England fans got the hollowest of victories on Saturday night when Launchbury, not Foley or David Pocock, was named man of the match. Launchbury was all but immaculate at Twickenham and certainly deserves his spot here, but in all honesty, if it were not for fan voting, one of the Australian pair would have easily won the award.

5. Lood de Jager, South Africa

De Jager was the heartbeat of a Springbok side which, for vast swathes of their game against Scotland, looked like a real threat to lift the Webb Ellis cup for a third time. Brutally physical in the tackle and with ball in hand, as well as wonderfully dextrous at the set-piece, de Jager has made it all but impossible for Heyneke Meyer to start Victor Matfield again.

6. Schalk Burger, South Africa

Burger is quietly enjoying one of the best spells of his already very impressive career. Of the 600+ players involved in this RWC, Burger might be among top five performers through the first three rounds. His breakdown work, tackling and carrying against Scotland were all of the highest quality, as he, Francois Louw and Duane Vermuelen found their groove as a back row.

7. David Pocock, Australia

He had eight on his back, he played an archetypal seven’s game and he was everywhere on the pitch, just like you would expect from your workhorse blindside. The contest at the contact area, and the word ‘contest’ is used very lightly, was the Pocock show on Saturday night. The Australian latched onto more balls than England fans will care to remember and once he was latched on, there was nothing the England ruckers could do to disrupt him.

8. Kieran Read, New Zealand

Read wrought havoc on the Georgian lineout while also providing a reliable target for Dane Coles. In addition to his set-piece work, Read was as dangerous as ever with the ball in hand and capped a fine display with a well-deserved try.