Rugby Championship Team of the Week - Round 1

Rugby Championship Team of the Week - Round 1

The opening round of the 2018 Rugby Championship saw the All Blacks beat the Wallabies 13-38 to go 1-0 in the race for the Bledisloe Cup while the Springboks beat Argentina 34-21 in Durban. There were a number of fantastic individual performances this weekend making the selection process extremely difficult for the first Team of the Week of the competition. 

1. Joe Moody - New Zealand

Moody was exceptional at scrum time making light work of Sekope Kepu and Jerome Ainsley. 

Defensively he was solid making 7 tackles.

Moody's work dominance at scrum time sees him beat Tendai Mtwarira to a place in the side with Bok veteran making 13 carries and 4 tackles.


2. Codie Taylor - New Zealand

Taylor has certainly made the Black no.2 jersey his own with Dane Coles still sidelined through injury.


His performance at the set-piece sees edge Malcolm Marx to spot in the side with the Bok hooker missing the mark at lineout time.

The All Black no.2 also weighed in with 7 tackles - without missing.

3. Owen Franks - New Zealand

The All Black tighthead is set to become the 9th New Zealand to reach the 100 test cap mark this weekend and shows no signs of slowing down.

The 30-year-old made 8 tackles and 1 turnover and hit the rucks and mauls with much intent.

His scrummaging was superb with Tom Robertson struggling to deal with the veteran in first Bledisloe Cup start. 

Frans Malherbe comes in a close second. 

4. Eben Etzebeth - South Africa

No matter who we picked in the second someone who deserved to be in the side was going to miss out.

Etzebeth claims a spot in the side after he put in a trademark performance against the Pumas that makes it hard to believe that it was his first game back after spending the last 5 months on the sidelines.

He hit double digits in both the tackles and carries department and missed just one tackle in a stellar 80-minute performance.

Sam Whitelock misses out despite starring in his 100th test match for the All Blacks where he disrupted the Wallabies lineout. 


5. Brodie Retallick - New Zealand

Pieter-Steph du Toit misses out here with Retallick putting in a man of the match performance in against the Wallabies.

He capped off his return to test rugby with a fantastic try where he threw a show and go that would make most centres blush.

The All Black lock made 64 running metres from his 9 carries and picked the Wallabies lineout part alongside Sam Whitelock. 

6. Francois Louw - South Africa

The Springbok flanker beats his opposite number to a place in the Team of the Week after hard-working 60 minutes.

He made a number of outstanding plays whether he was pilfering over the ball to win penalties or linking the attack up.

Liam Squire, Lukhan Tui and Pablo Matera just miss out on a place in the side.

7. Sam Cane - New Zealand

The busy flanker did some of his finest work in the trenches for the All Blacks this past weekend.

He was effective in limiting the damage that Hooper and Pocock made at the breakdown and made 11 tackles and a pair of turnovers.

He beats Springbok captain Siya Kolisi to the 7 jersey this week.

8. David Pocock - Australia 

The Wallaby loose forward certainly made his presence felt in his first game against the All Blacks in almost two years. 

He made 4 clean turnovers against the Kiwis and more tackles than any other player in the match (17). 

Warren Whiteley made solid return to test rugby making 14 tackles and 35 running metres from his 9 carries while Kieran Read enjoyed similar success on his return to test rugby.

9. Faf de Klerk - South Africa

The Sale Sharks halfback continued his fine form in his second stint in the Green Gold.

The nifty scrumhalf took control of the game from the outset and was on point in all facets of the game.

His passing was pinpoint as too was kicking especially in the build-up to one Apihwe Dyantyi's tries.

The Bok no.9 was directly involved in 4 of the Springbok tries scoring 1 and assisting another three meaning he beats Aaron Smith to a place in the side.

10. Beauden Barrett - New Zealand

Barrett responded brilliantly to the calls for him to be dropped for Richie Mo'unga by putting in a match-winning performance for the All Blacks.

He was outstanding on attack and was credited with two try assists and grabbed one for himself as well. He kept the All Blacks attack firing making over 80 running metres beating 2 defenders and made 3 clean breaks.

His 57% success from the tee will be Steven Hanson's only concern. Barrett was relatively unchallenged for a place in the side with Nicolas Sanchez the only other 10 starring for his side this weekend.

11. Aphiwe Dyantyi - South Africa 

The Springbok flyer continued to improve on his sensational debut season against the Pumas this weekend.

Dyantyi scored a brace on his Rugby Championship debut and could have easily scored his hattrick but opted to hand the ball off to his fellow winger.

The winger spent the match sprinting up and down the touchline chasing almost all the Boks kicks and often popped up on the other side of the pitch on attack.

12. Anton Lienert-Brown - New Zealand 

Lienert-Brown was unexpectedly injected into the game after just 12 minutes with Ryan Crotty suffering yet another concussion.

The young Chiefs centre slotted in with relative ease and combined well with Jack Goodhue and enjoyed a superb all-round game.

Kurtley Beale put in a good shift in vain for the Wallabies setting up a superb debut try for Jack Maddocks but it was just not enough to see him make the side. 

13. Jack Goodhue - New Zealand 

Goodhue was sublime in his first Bledisloe Cup test. He was exceptional on attack and defence and has surely cemented his place in the side for time being with the All Blacks struggling with injuries in the midfield.

The 23-year-old also dotted down for his first test try and was only really challenged by Lukhanyo Am for a place in the side.

14. Waisake Naholo - New Zealand

Naholo was lucky to play a full 80 minutes against the Wallabies after a tip tackle on Israel Folau.

Unfortunately for the Wallabies, Naholo was in fine form after escaping a card as he made over 120 running metres beating 13 defenders and made 4 clean breaks on his way to two tries.

 

So close :joy::ok_hand::skin-tone-5: #DeleAlliChallenge

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15. Ben Smith - New Zealand

Smith sparked the All Blacks attack into life just before the end of the first half when he broke through the Wallabies with his trademark wiggle that led to Aaron Smith's try.

He was solid in the air and on defence but it was on attack where he made the biggest difference making 5 clean breaks after beating 5 defenders and made 92 running metres.

Willie Le Roux was brilliant for the Springboks but just misses out to Smith. 

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