Not too much to think about this week, with Fiji and Argentina the clear standouts and contributing the bulk of selections. Japan are again out of the fold.
1 – Santiago García Botta (Argentina) Ruthless in the scrum and moves well in the loose. Another young prop on the rise.
2 – Semiperive Semeane (Samoa) Replaced injured Andrew Williams only 20 minutes in and made a huge impression around the pitch. Strong support play and tremendous defense.
3 – Lucas Martínez (Argentina) A great lump of a man, nearly as round as he is tall. Absolutely monstered the retreating Tongan scrum with frightening ease.
4 – Matías Alemanno (Argentina) An essential cog in a one-sided pack performance. Showed no ill-effects from the head knock suffered in round 1.
5 – Savenaca Tabakanalagi (Fiji) Another giant lock, even bigger than the duo that paired up in the opening round. Thundered around the pitch like an elephant on parade.
6 – Tomás Lezana (Argentina) Rising throught the ranks very quickly since graduating from the u20s. Very high work rate, strong in contact, and linked well in attack.
7 – Oneone Fa’afou (Samoa) A true openside, something of a rarity in Samoan rugby. Gave Canada fits at the breakdown in a very lively display.
8 – Facundo Isa (Argentina) Controlled the back of the scrum and brought his physicality to play in the loose. Scored a try from a heads-up quick tap near the line.
9 – Serupepeli Vularika (Fiji) Kept the tempo high with accurate service and scored a tournament-high 22 points after taking over the goal kicking duties.
10 – Patrick Fa’apale (Samoa) Steered his team to victory with a confident performance. Controlled the game and proved strong in the tackle.
11 – Nacani Wakaya (Fiji) Yet another big and fast winger off the production line. Virtually untouchable with ball in hand.
12 – Apakuku Ma’afu (Tonga) The best Tongan for the second week running. Tried his best to keep his desperately overmatched side in the game.
13 – Josua Kerevi (Fiji) Didn’t score any tries but set up a half-dozen. Completely dominant both in attack and defense.
14 – Santiago Cordero (Argentina) Another lively display from the hot stepper. Scored one and looks just about the class attacker in the tourney.
15 – Pat Kay (Canada) A confident, solid if unspectacular performance. Kicked very well from hand and tee, and put in a stirling effort in defense.
