TRU's Rugby Stock Watch - Week 12

This week’s edition of Stock Watch has a front row flavour to it, with the men at rugby’s coalface catching the eye, though not all for the right reasons.

Youngsters throughout the Aviva Premiership and Guinness Pro 12 also put up their hands for recognition with so many players involved at the international level and we’ve done our best to bring you the best – and worst – of the weekend’s performances.

Stock Rising
Kyle Sinckler and Charlie Matthews, Harlequins and England

Acombination of poor attacking play from Harlequins’ back line and resolute Sale defence resulted in the Sharks stealing a valuable 16-12 win at The Stoop on Friday night, but the play of Sinckler and Matthews was a much-needed silver lining for the home side. Sinckler dominated his opposite number, Eifion Lewis-Roberts, at scrum time, as well as putting on a clinic in how to clear the breakdown, whilst second row Matthews proved to be Quins most dangerous threat with ball in hand and a valuable weapon at the set-piece. Both players also defended well, with Sinckler in particular putting in a number of bone-crunching tackles that helped keep the visitors in check.

A slow start to the season briefly tempered Sinckler’s meteoric rise over the past year, but in the last few weeks, the young tighthead has shown his ability to dominate at both the set-piece and in the loose. If this vein of form continues, Sinckler is likely to leapfrog Henry Thomas in the England pecking order and will start eying up the likes of Kieran Brookes and David Wilson, too. Matthews has a bit more work on his hands, with a highly talented and congested England engine room ahead of him, but there’s no doubt the improving fortunes of the Quins pack will work in his favour as the season goes on.

Rob Evans, Scarlets and Wales

The Scarlets have shown a recent penchant for producing quality tightheads for Warren Gatland and the national team, but in Evans, they may have unearthed a loosehead who can go head-to-head with the impressive Nicky Smith for the next decade. The prop had his way with Glasgow’s Zander Ferguson, working three scrum penalties out of the Scotsman and forced Gregor Townsend to call for replacement Rossouw De Klerk midway through the first half.

With Gethin Jenkins and Paul James both now north of 32, the search for Wales’ next loosehead prop is well underway. Smith has taken an early lead in the race with his highly impressive performances for the Ospreys so far this season, not to mention a debut cap against Fiji, but Evans can force his way into contention if he can begin to expose older and more experienced props in the same fashion he exposed Ferguson.

Rhys Ruddock, Leinster and Ireland

Simon Zebo and Tommy Bowe took their chances exceptionally well when called upon, but for much of the game Ireland were having to defend and no player put in a bigger shift than Ruddock. He led his side with 14 tackles and came up with two crucial turnovers which cut short promising attacks from the Wallabies. The game caps an excellent autumn for Ruddock, who also shone against South Africa, and certainly vindicates his selection by Joe Schmidt.

Ruddock is unlikely to keep Sean O’Brien out of the team when he returns to fitness, but has done enough this month to make himself a frontrunner for a place on Ireland’s bench. In Ruddock, Schmidt has found an extremely capable deputy and improved his back row depth considerably ahead of a Rugby World Cup which will surely test it.

Jonny Gray, Glasgow and Scotland

Gray has transitioned this autumn from a youngster with bags of potential, to an international star on the verge of breaking out. He led Scotland with 13 tackles against Tonga, as well as chalking up the most lineout takes (7) and steals (2) amongst both teams. No player has raised their stock as dramatically this autumn as the younger Gray brother.

Based on Scotland’s tests this month alone, Jonny has now arguably surpassed Richie and it’s hard to imagine there will be a name on Vern Cotter’s Six Nations team sheets before his. The return from injury of Grant Gilchrist, who had initially been chosen as the Scottish captain this autumn, will put pressure on Scotland’s impressive all-Gray engine room, but they will feel very hard done by if Cotter decides to break them up in 2015.

Other Risers – Mike Haley, Michael Paterson, Stuart Olding, Steffan Evans, James Davies, Duncan Casey, Jack Nowell, Simon Zebo, Rhys Webb, Anthony Watson, Jack Conan, Darragh Fanning, Luther Burrell, Billy Vunipola, Calum Clark, Graham Kitchener.

Stock Fallers
Brad Barritt, Saracens and England
Barritt was as defensively efficient as ever against Samoa, but looked far too one-dimensional with ball in hand. He ran the ball well enough and made ground for England, but offered no spark to help out wingers Anthony Watson and Johnny May, nor did he display the same understanding with Farrell in the midfield as his Saracens teammate showed with George Ford inside of him.

The centre is known commodity for Stuart Lancaster and England, and though dropping him from the squad would be harsh, it’s surely time for one of Luther Burrell or Jonathan Joseph to be given an opportunity to fill the outside centre berth.

Paul James, Bath and Wales

The loosehead found himself in Wayne Barnes’ bad books early on against New Zealand and struggled to recover. Owen Franks is far from the most destructive tighthead in world rugby, but had James sussed from the outset and helped the All Blacks to exert a lot of pressure on Wales at the set-piece.

The early season form of James’ back-up, Smith, as well as the aforementioned performance from Evans this weekend, cast further doubts on James’ long-term future in the Wales team. The Bath man will not have an outing against South Africa to impress, due to the match falling outside the international window, and as such, will need to ensure he makes a big contribution in the Aviva Premiership and European Rugby Champions Cup to maintain his place in Wales’ first XV plans.

Rory Best, Ulster and Ireland
Best is a bit unlucky to feature here, as he was a pivotal part of the defensive effort from Ireland that saw them pull off their win against Australia, but once again there were issues with his accuracy at the lineout. The hooker blows hot and cold with his throwing, often struggling for consistency in that facet of his game, something which Ireland saw, almost to their detriment, against Australia.
Sean Cronin is currently Ireland’s backup hooker, but with Duncan Casey turning in good performance after good performance for Munster, pressure may begin to mount on Best from outside the current squad. Cronin offers a lot in the loose, but like Best, can struggle for set-piece accuracy, potentially opening the door for Casey to offer a more consistent option, whether it’s in a starters’ jersey or from the bench.

Other Fallers – Ben Youngs, Devin Toner, Gordon D’Arcy, Richard Hibbard, Johnnie Beatie.