Team Of The Week

The latest and greatest XV to hit the rugby world!

2012-11-12-002

1 – Yannick Forestier (France) Only given 49 minutes to shine, but what an effort from the French debutante.

2 – Adriaan Strauss (South Africa) Accurate at the set piece and just got the edge on his cousin in Dublin.

3 – Nicolas Mas (France) Dan Cole and Census Johnston were excellent, but Mas was at the fore of France’s demolition job in Paris.

4 – Eben Etzebeth (South Africa) Stood tall in the lineout and never took a backward step in a fierce battle with Ireland.

5 – Mike McCarthy (Ireland) Gave everything and deservedly named man-of-the-match despite the loss.

6 – Juan Fernandez Lobbe (Argentina) A true captain’s performance, led his men to victory with word and deed.

7 – Fulgence Ouedraogo (France) Honourable mention to Robert Barbieri, but Ouedraogo stepped up for arguably his finest game in a France jersey.

8 – Louis Picamoles (France) A beast at the back of the scrum, he is in terrifyingly good form at the moment.

9 – Robbie Shaw (United States) Two tries and a superb performance for the Eagles in Colwyn Bay.

10 – Dan Carter (New Zealand) A class apart.

11 – Robert Lilomaiava (Samoa) Plenty of candidates to choose from, but with four tries on debut there can be only one.

12 – Jean de Villiers (South Africa) His go-forward gave his team a target when they needed it most.

13 – Manu Tuilagi (England) George Pisi impressed but it was another Samoan at Twickenham who stole the show with a thunderous performance.

14 – Gonzalo Camacho (Argentina) Totally outplayed his larger and more-fancied opposite, defending well and scoring a crucial try.

15 – Ayumu Goromaru (Japan) Hard to leave out Alex Goode but Goromaru kicked 19 points to keep Japan out of reach in Bucharest.