HALFBACKS:
10. George Ford (England)
Mail Online 9/10: “Rediscovered the art of the drop goal, with England under the cosh. Great rugby brain and got his side ticking.”
Telegraph 9/10: “Ford’s remarkable long-range drop goals and calm performance kept 14-man England in the contest when they needed him most. A performance he will be remembered for.”
Honourable mentions: Matthieu Jalibert (France), Johnny Sexton (Ireland), Manie Libbok (South Africa), Dan Biggar (Wales)
9. Antoine Dupont (France)
Planet Rugby 8/10: “The whole Stade de France was stunned when he actually made a mistake, while Aaron Smith did his best to put him under pressure – with some success – but he was otherwise flawless. “
Honourable mentions: Conor Murray (Ireland), Alex Mitchell (England), Fad de Klerk (South Africa)
FRONT-ROW:
1. Andrew Porter (Ireland)
Belfast Telegraph 8/10: “Performed all the nuts and bolts elements in what was a strong showing from the Irish scrum but there was little doubt that his most eye-catching involvement came with an out the back door offload in the build-up to Aki’s score.”
2. Jamie George (England)
Mail Online 8/10: “England’s go-to set-piece man and heart of the team. Dependable and Steve Borthwick will be praying he stays fit.”
RUCK 8/10: “If he wasn’t already, the hooker should be regarded as England’s greatest number 2 of all-time.”
3. Taniela Tupou (Australia)
Sydney Moring Herald 8/10: “It was his 50th game for the Wallabies and what a performance it was. He was everywhere, playing scrum half at the breakdown, scrummaging beautifully and shovelling an audacious offload to Ben Donaldson that came straight from an NBA playbook. He even worked as a referee’s assistant with an honest confession that he hadn’t scored in an attempted drive to the line. The Wallabies badly missed him during his long layoff from a ruptured Achilles and are a far better team with him in it.”
Honourable mention: Dan Cole (England)