Players from seven countries make this week's Autumn Internationals Team of the Week after the opening week of games concluded yesterday.
Autumn internationals team of the week,
Fullback: Leigh Halfpenny (Wales)
Warren Gatland values Halfpenny’s dependability and in the opening stages against Scotland the Scarlet didn’t put a foot wrong, reading play superbly, slotting his goals and carrying well. Passed 700 points for Wales and propelled one kick out of hand fully 50 metres. A fine effort from the Lion.
Winger: George North (Wales)
Atoned for failing to convert an early chance with a brilliant finish that saw him tear through three attempted tackles. While Luke Morgan couldn’t get into the game, North set about putting a stamp on proceedings with strong running which caused the Scots problems. Showed why he is Wales’ premier wing.
Centre: Michele Campagnaro (Italy)
Centre: Damien de Allende (South Africa)
Winger: Waisake Naholo (New Zealand)
Fly-half: Joey Carbery (Ireland)
The natural gifts as a ball player make it tempting to wait and see what the defence gives. He soaked too much in the tackle. He showed his skills with a left-footed clearance and five from five from the ground.
Scrum-half: Luke McGrath (Ireland)
Prop: Ofa Tu'ungafasi (New Zealand)
Solid at the set piece and defensively, and did plenty of work at the breakdown.
Hooker: Ken Owens (Wales)
Won a turnover within three minutes and wasn’t far from the action throughout the opening half, which didn’t end well for him when he was on the wrong end of a heavy hit to the face from Ryan Wilson. Bloodied, he still made it back onto the field. A Halloween tribute, perhaps? Whatever, Owens was brave and gutsy.
Prop: Andrew Porter (Ireland)
Scrummaged with authority in his second start this season. There was almost a superman try, diving over a pile of forwards. His power was helpful in removing bodies at the ruck and poaching a penalty.
Lock: Tadhg Beirne (Ireland)
He reached for Scannell’s lineout and got around in support to shake off weak tackles for his first international try in a perfect example of his work rate. He was back for his second from a stunning running line.
Lock: Alun Wyn Jones (Wales)
Started with a couple of terrific takes at restarts and was at the heart of the home defensive effort. When he plays he always makes a difference. Grafted at mauls and generally made a nuisance of himself.
Flanker: Michael Leitch (Japan)
Impressive as ever. Saw plenty of work on attack and was unbeatable on defence.
Flanker: Justin Tipuric (Wales)
A sound effort from Tipuric, who seemed to be wherever the action was. His defence was excellent and he showed superb awareness to keep Welsh attacks moving. Wales were more streetwise than the Scots and Tipuric, the official man of the match, was a key part of that.
Number 8: Mark Wilson (England)
Fully justified his selection as a makeshift No8 and gave everything to the cause against South Africa. It was surprise to pick him there but it proved a masterstroke.
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- Jordie Barrett over Damian de Allende is far from being correct. The hype around Dupont is also overreaching, he's probably 4th in the world and has been since the 2023 WC. He also avoids certain matchups which is strange. The rest of the list is pretty good apart from minor subjective biases.JasonMarlow16-09-2026
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