Team of the Week: Springboks dominate after All Blacks victory

The second of four tests in the Rugby's Greatest Rivalry series between South Africa and New Zealand was another stellar contest, with the Springboks tying up the series at one win a-piece at the half-way stage. After weathering the storm of an opening round defeat to the All Blacks, Rassie Erasmus rallied his men in green and gold for a hard-fought 33-26 victory in Cape Town.

Then, across the pond in South America, the Wallabies continued their impressive start to international action under head coach Les Kiss, with a third straight win for the men from the land down under. Australia followed up on their two-test clean sweep over Japan, with an impressive 27-21 away victory over Los Pumas to keep momentum running ahead of their return leg in Mendoza.

We kick off this Team of the Week from the latest weekend in international rugby, with a stand-out performance from Los Pumas full-back Geronimo Prisciantelli. The live-wire Argentina star showcased some searing footwork against the Wallabies defence, with some well weighted offloads and presented a solid ability to break through wall of gold defenders. Prisciantelli crossed for the opening try of the match after some beautiful interplay with Santiago Carreras and Rodrigo Isgro.

Taking the spot upon the right wing is Cheslin Kolbe, as the Springboks man returned to the squad for an outstanding Player of the Match performance. Kolbe was one of several late changes to the South Africa starting XV made this week, as Rassie Erasmus kept the All Blacks on their toes all the way up to kick-off. Kolbe recovered from an injury to re-claim his place on the wing, and made some marquee involvements in the air and against his opposite man Leroy Carter.

His latter effort drove the All Blacks wing back deep into his own territory, and laid the groundwork for a Springboks try. The match was not without it's controversy, as Kolbe came under scrutiny for an off the ball incident at the end of the match. We hand an honourable mention to Will Jordan, as the high-flying All Blacks wing was superb once again.

Keeping it all things green and gold, Jesse Kriel is one man who is seamingly immovable from Rassie Erasmus' plans. No matter how much the Springbok head coach likes to shuffle the deck, Kriel has held down the 13 jersey with aplomb. The formidable midfielder got the try-scoring underway after just a couple of minutes in Cape Town, which set the tempo for a blistering evening. Whilst several question marks were raised upon his defending, Kriel did come up with 18 completed tackles overall, and had the most stand-out contribution from any of this weekend's outside centres.

We swap back across to the land of Los Pumas, with Hunter Paisami continuing his purple patch of form under his old Reds boss Les Kiss. Paisami has run out a string of top performances now, since Kiss pulled the trigger to unleash the midfield wrecking ball for the first test against Japan. The most noteable contributions came on the front foot from the Queensland man, with a team best effort of 53 metres made including some game-breaking carries through the blue and white defence.

It was a bold call from Rassie Erasmus to retain Ethan Hooker in the starting XV, once Cheslin Kolbe passed his mid-week fitness test and got the gold and green light to compete. However, with Kolbe instead replacing Kurt-Lee Arundse for the second test, the young Sharks man kept his spot and proved why this was the right call after all. Scintilating footwork, aggressive in the air and a real 'heart on the sleeve' performance to go after every loose ball, Hooker's versatility across the wing and centres will only strengthen his future Springboks hopes.

Whilst there was so much fly-half focus for the x-factor clash between Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Ruben Love of the Springboks and All Blacks, it was actually Santiago Carreras who put in the best shift from a number 10 this week. The ever reliable Pumas operator was the strongest attacking option for Argentina in San Salvador. Carreras provided a neat assist for Prinscantelli's opening try, and followed this up with a turnover - all within the first five minutes of the match. The Bath man was tremendous, and stole the out-half spotlight this week.

Despite coming away on the losing end of the score-line, there is no denying that Cam Roigard is emerging as one of the best scrum halves in the world. The conversation continues to gain traction upon his consistently phenomenal outings, with Roigard once again the best player in a black jersey this week. Roigard kept the attacking tempo high with some sizzling destribution to the back-line, and peppered the Springboks back-field with a flurry of well-weighted box kicks. Rogard got his reward with a trip over the white-wash, as he supported Will Jordan for the walk-in finish.

We move onto the forward pack now, and call it brilliance or call it mind games, but there is no denying how Rassie's late changes were instrumental upon their Cape Town win. After originally being named in the starting XV alongside Malcolm Marx and Wilco Louw, Ox Nche and his fellow front rowers were swapped to the bench a matter of hours prior to kick off. Nche was deployed as part of the formidable Springboks 'Bomb Squad' late in the first half, and had a bruising impact with serious scrum time dominance. The Sharks man looked at his best in the front row, and laid the groundwork for the Springboks triumph.

The Wallabies hooker continues to gain momentum, and enters the proverbial 'chat' around the best hookers in the world right now. It was a tough call between Brandon Paenga-Amosa and Springboks sensation Malcolm Marx for this week's number two jersey, yet we hand the Team of the Week spot to the Wallabies man, who impressed with an all star, all round performance. With a 100% line-out completion rate against some rangy Argentine jumpers, a solid tackle count and crossing over for a seventh minute try, we hand the Western Force man his dutifully deserved spot.

Whilst Malcolm Marx was shifted from a routine appearance in the Team of the Week, there is no displacing arguably the world's very best tight-head prop in Thomas du Toit. The man whom Bath fans will be sorely missing next season is clicking back up to his top form, in time to make a statement with the Sharks for the new URC season. The prop was unflustered by Rassie's late change to the play-book, and took the fight to the All Blacks front row with some beautifully brutal scrum time displays. His impact was evident, as du Toit remained on the pitch an extra 20 minutes longer than his fellow front rowers Gerard Steenekamp and Deon Fourie.

The ultimate enforcer gets the spot in the Team of the Week, with Eben Etzebeth reminding the rugby world once again as to why he is so highly regarded by his peers and revered by opponents. The Sharks man was tremendous against the All Blacks, with some important disruptions made at line-out time. Etzebeth rose up and intervened with the New Zealand throw-in, which caused chaos to break loose and several mad scrambles for the ball. The most-capped Springboks player also made some timley blocks and slap downs on kick attempts, which helped in the pre-coursing build up for Cheslin Kolbe's try. The years were certainly wound back.

It was a very tough call this week, as Fabian Holland was also excellent in the engine row for the All Blacks. However, we have instead opted for Jeremy Williams of the Wallabies to partner up with the formidable Eben Etzebeth, in what makes quite the pair of locks in our Team of the Week. Williams played a key role in setting up Paega-Amosa's early score, and excelled across both sides of the ball. The line-out was a dedicated Williams fly-zone, with the Western Force man rising to disrupt the Pumas throw in, and made no mistake upon collecting the Wallabies ball. Desfensivley astute as well, it was a hulking 70-minute effort from the lock, who should feel hard done by to have his second half score chalked off.

Our second of three consecutive Australians to make the Team of the Week, the Exeter Chiefs man continues to impress in the gold jersey with excitement bountiful for his 2028 move to the Reds. Hooper was given the nod to start by Les Kiss, with rotation the order of the day in the back row, as Hooper played no part in the two-match series against Japan, and featured once in the Nations Championship throughout July. Hooper made good on his opportunity with a match best 13 tackles, and wrestled his way onto the score-board for an important try mid-way through the second half.

Rounding off the trilogy of Wallabies is a man who can seamingly do little wrong at the moment, with Fraser McReight enjoying the form of his career. The flanker is a real candidate around the world's best open-side's on the pitch today, with the 27-year-old bagging himself another international try in this hard-fought contest with Los Pumas. Aside from his five point contribution, the Queensland Reds man was his quintessential best, hard tackling, tireless breakdown work and an engine that never faltered around the park. Looking at the stats, McReight matched his back-row brother Tom Hooper with 13 tackles, and carried 10+ times.

It was another tight call to complete our Team of the Week, with Ardie Savea and Joaquin Moro all but coming down to a coin flip. Whilst there is no denying the tremendous impact from the All Blacks star, who punched repeated holes into the Springbok defence as his sides best go-forward option, we hand the accolade to the Argentina bull-dozer this time around. A full Team of the Week entry had been typed out with Savea included, yet a final review has since tipped favour to the Leicester sledgehammer.

Whilst Savea was the strongest forward pack performer on the pitch for the All Blacks, Moro's effort carries greater weight. With regular starting number eight Jaoquin Oviedo rotated out following a solid run in the Nations Championship, Felipe Contepomi wanted to see what Moro could deliver. The Tigers man delivered in spades, as he grabbed his try, emptied the tank with several clattering carries, and kept the Wallabies on their toes for a tense one-score shoot-out into the closing moments.