Even with an absence of a traditional Rugby Championship, the four premier Southern Hemisphere nations left it all on the line across Cape Town and San Salvador.
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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.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: SPRINGBOKS v ALL BLACKS & PUMAS v WALLABIES
15. GERONIMO PRISCIANTELLI (ARGENTINA)
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.
14. CHESLIN KOLBE (SOUTH AFRICA)
Honourable Mention: Will Jordan (New Zealand)
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.
13. JESSE KRIEL (SOUTH AFRICA)
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.
12. HUNTER PAISAMI (AUSTRALIA)
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.
11. ETHAN HOOKER (SOUTH AFRICA)
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.
10. SANTIAGO CARRERAS (ARGENTINA)
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.
9. CAM ROIGARD (NEW ZEALAND)
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.
