We could make this easy and just pick the entire All Black XV, but that wouldn’t be much fun, or very fair to some other standouts.
1 – Marcos Ayerza (Argentina) Celebrated his 50th test by spanking Jannie du Plessis in the scrum and putting himself about in the loose. We’ll forgive his penalty at the end.
2 – Dane Coles (New Zealand) Probably his best performance for his country, building on the week before. With Keven Mealamu looking well past his best, it’s this fella’s jersey to lose heading towards the World Cup.
3 – Owen Franks (New Zealand) Lifted himself after a flat performance in Sydney. Solid in the scrum and put in a couple thumping tackles.
4 – Brodie Retallick (New Zealand) Superb, world class effort from the big man. Restarts, tackles, bustling runs, he gave everything and earned his plaudits.
5 – Sam Whitelock (New Zealand) The other half of the world’s form second row pairing. Combined to totally outplay their Australian counterparts.
6 – Juan Fernández Lobbe (Argentina) The stats won’t show it but he made himself a nuisance all over the breakdown and gave everything once again. He’s lost a little pace with age, but isn’t yet short on guile.
7 – Michael Hooper (Australia) Consistently leads by example. One of a select few of his countrymen who can be happy with their performance.
8 – Duane Vermeulen (South Africa) A tough one to pick with strong efforts from Juan Manuel Leguizamón and Kieran Read, but the big Bok helped inspire his team to rebound from a dreaful opening hour in Salta. Powerful in the tight loose and a strong lineout presence as well.
9 – Aaron Smith (New Zealand) Got a bit of an arm-chair ride from his forwards, but there’s no doubting his class. Brings so much pace to the attack, and had a couple excellent breaks.
10 – Aaron Cruden (New Zealand) Nicolás Sánchez misses out due to some wayward goal kicking, while the Kiwi was superb in Auckland. Even put in a crunching tackle on Michael Hooper for good measure.
11 – Julian Savea (New Zealand) Probably the form winger in world rugby at the moment. Makes something happen every time he touches the ball, and his kick-chase has been top grade.
12 – Juan Martín Hernández (Argentina) Added a new dimension to the Pumas attack, defended well, and kicked a classy drop goal. Has he finally found his best position?
13 – Conrad Smith (New Zealand) Nothing magical, just his usual business. Classy as it gets.
14 – Cornal Hendricks (South Africa) Not many contenders here so the big man gets the nod even though he struggled to contain Manuel Montero. Worked hard for the crucial try to get his side back in the match.
15 – Joaquín Tuculet (Argentina) A nod of the head to Israel Folau, but the bright boots of the Pumas newest star have to be recognized. Everything he did was golden, be it running, catching, or kicking.
