With the dust having settled on the final round of the Rugby Championship and opening warm-ups for England and Ireland, we've gone through the action to pick the best players from the action.
Fullback: Kurtley Beale (Australia) - Came alive as the Wallabies got ascendancy and helped keep his team humming. Snaked his way through the All Blacks’ defence to score at the death. Top metre eater with 96 to his name.
Winger: Cheslin Kolbe (South Africa) - Another fantastic outing for the Springboks’ pocket-rocket. Worked his socks off chasing kicks and making tackles, while he also showed his awareness and pace to finish off a try in the second half.
Centre: Jonathan Joseph (England) - Slotted back into the midfield seamlessly and linked up well with Bath colleague Watson outside him. Now likely to beat Te'o to a World Cup spot.
Centre: Samu Kerevi (Australia) - A hugely dominant display from the burly midfielder – came of age. Bowled through All Blacks for fun. Skipped past Smith and wrecked Barrett for an excellent try assist.
Winger: Vereniki Goneva (Fiji) - Became the flying Fijians all-time top try-scorer after finishing off a super scored during a win against Samoa.
Fly-half: Handre Pollard (South Africa) - The flyhalf produced a marvellous performance as the Springboks overcame Argentina to win the Rugby Championship. He truly showed why he is one the best flyhalves in the World, contributing 31 points, including a brace of tries and five penalties kicks. Also had a hand in Mapimpi’s try.
Scrum-half: Nice White (Australia) - The Wallabies played off White in attack and the crafty No 9 constantly probed the All Blacks’ defence, with two snipes inside the first five minutes. It was the type of performance which could see him start at the World Cup.
Prop: Tendai Mtawarira (South Africa) - Solid. The prop was a beast in the scrums and worked all around the field before being replaced by Steven Kitshoff after 45 minutes.
Hooker: Tolu Latu (Australia) - In 60 minutes Latu showed how effective he can be. It was the hooker’s best performance for the Wallabies. His lineout regularly hit the mark and the scrum beat the All Blacks.
Prop: Trevor Nyakane (South Africa) - His transformation from loosehead to tighthead is now complete, after he produced one of the all-time great front-row performances in the Springbok jersey. Nyakane scrummed the Pumas into the ground, but also made a staggering 15 tackles during the match.
Lock: Joe Launchbury (England) - Played like a flanker. Every time England broke the line, Launchbury was the man on the inside shoulder. Pick-and-go helped set up Cokanasiga for his try.
Lock: Devin Toner (Ireland) - Dominated the lineout enough for Ireland to coast to the win.
Flanker: Lewis Ludlam (England) - Instant hit after forcing knock-on by Moriarty with first tackle in international rugby.
Flanker: Michael Hooper (Australia) - He managed to run for 48 metres with the ball. Made a clutch steal in the 67th minute to stall any building New Zealand momentum. Marshalled his troops well.
Number 8: Kieran Read (New Zealand) - Led from the front. Back to his aggressive best on his worst night as All Blacks skipper. Tackled his heart out and recovered a kick-off for Ngani Laumape's try.
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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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