TRU's International XV - Final Week

The autumn internationals came to a thrilling conclusion this weekend as England and Wales put some much-needed gloss on their campaigns with wins over Australia and South Africa respectively.

The pool of players was smaller than in past weeks, but there were still plenty of eye-catching performances to pick from in the final weekend of international rugby this year.

1. Joe Marler, England
The autumn series has been an international coming out party for Marler, who has transformed himself from a backup option for the likes of Alex Corbisiero and Mako Vunipola and into one of the more impressive looseheads currently playing the game. He scrummaged extremely well against Sekope Kepu, constantly keeping the Wallaby on the back foot. Gethin Jenkins made a big contribution in the loose for Wales, but couldn’t match the set-piece impact that Marler had.

2. Bismarck du Plessis, South Africa
The sole Springbok to make it into this week’s team, as almost every part of South Africa’s game, aside from the set-piece, fell apart at the Millennium Stadium. The Shark didn’t offer much in the loose, but his lineout throwing was as accurate as ever, which was enough to see him edge ahead of both Dylan Hartley and Scott Baldwin.

3. David Wilson, England
An honourable mention is due to Samson Lee, who went well for Wales, played the entire 80 minutes and came on very strong late in the game, but Wilson’s contribution at Twickenham was unmatched by his fellow tightheads this weekend. Like Marler, Wilson’s scrummaging was excellent throughout the game, squeezing penalties out of Australia and James Slipper, but he also made a very noteworthy 14 tackles.

4. Courtney Lawes, England
Lawes was unlucky not to pick up the man of the match award for his display against Australia, as his unrelenting defensive effort surely prevented two Australian tries, as well as ruling the skies at lineout time. Officially, Lawes will only be listed with one steal at the lineout, but he managed to get his hands on multiple Australian throws, disrupting their ball throughout the game.

5. Alun Wyn Jones, Wales
A typical performance from Jones as he led from the front, leading Wales in lineout takes, as well as making himself known defensively both in the loose and at the breakdown. Sam Warburton may be Wales’ captain, but Jones provided another, invaluable source of leadership in the Welsh pack.

6. Chris Robshaw, England
The England captain responded to the flak coming his way as well as he could, putting in an accomplished performance against the Wallabies, outplaying his vaunted opposite number, Michael Hooper. Robshaw often struggles to keep his feet against the better rucking teams, but displayed a very efficient, wide base for 80 minutes at Twickenham and caused the Australian back row all sorts of problems.

7. Sam Warburton, Wales
Warburton and Robshaw were the stand out flankers this weekend, but the Welsh captain bumps his English rival to the blindside with an even more polished performance. He dominated the breakdown against a talented South African outfit and also edged Robshaw in the tackle statistics, 18 to 14. On their displays this weekend alone, both players would be locked for the six and seven jerseys in a World XV.

8. Ben Morgan, England
Another fine performance from Morgan, who has now presumably retaken his role as the starting eight in Stuart Lancaster’s team, and saw off stiff competition from Taulupe Faletau for a spot in this XV. He scored two tries off of the back of excellent set-piece play and was a consistent source of front foot ball whenever England managed to string together a few phases.

9. Ben Youngs, England
Like Morgan, a strong finish to the autumn has probably seen Youngs earn back the starting scrum-half jersey for England. His box kicking kept Australia under pressure and allowed his teammates to compete for the ball, whilst his distribution to George Ford was as crisp as anything we’ve seen from Danny Care over the last six months.

10. Dan Biggar, Wales
Bernard Foley was a little unlucky to miss out, having put in a good shift for the Wallabies, but Biggar managed Wales to their first win over one of the southern hemisphere’s ‘Big Three’ in six years. The Springboks clearly targeted Biggar, running down his channel with regularity, but the fly-half was as defensively responsible and solid as any of his teammates on Saturday.  

11. Rob Horne, Australia
If it were not for particularly stubborn English defence, Horne could have capped his game with a try or two. The winger was a consistent threat at Twickenham and, at times, it seemed like only a matter of time before he crossed the whitewash.

12. Brad Barritt, England
Barritt shifts in from 13 due to a particularly special performance from another outside centre, but the England man put in a herculean shift of his own. With Australia dominating both possession and territory, Barritt was asked to put in one of his trademark defensive performances. He ended up notching a game-high 18 tackles and was pivotal in stopping a very dangerous Australian back line that was often just a pass away from cutting England to shreds.

13. Adam Ashley-Cooper, Australia
Undoubtedly Australia’s best player on Saturday and had it not been for the final result, could well have picked up the man of the match award. His duel with Barritt was one to savour. The Australian would seemingly have Barritt on the ropes with his quick feet and eye for a good line, only for Barritt to respond with a last ditch tackle. Both players played their own games exceptionally well and it was a highly enjoyable contest. An honourable mention is due for Jonathan Davies, who had a very solid game for Wales.

14. Henry Speight, Australia
Speight narrowly edges out Liam Williams, who was impressive playing out of position on the wing, but the Australian stretched the English defence repeatedly and if there had been better Australian support, chances are Speight could have walked away with two or three assists.

15. Leigh Halfpenny, Wales
Halfpenny kicked all 12 of Wales’ points, didn’t make any glaring errors and made as much of a positive impact as any full-back this weekend. Israel Folau had a few nice breaks but they were mitigated by multiple defensive mistakes, Willie le Roux was uncharacteristically error-prone and Mike Brown was solid, but no more.