Team of the Week

It was a full weekend with tons of rugby to get through, but we’ve done it and come up with a decent team. We had to look through a multitude of candidates from the Top 14 semis, PRO Rugby, the Nations Cup, and of the course the June internationals. After some humming and hawing, here are our choices this week.

1 – Djustice Sears-Duru (Canada) Not quite as ubiquitous as last week but not to shabby considering he spent the last half hour in a bum leg. Monster hit early on in defense and few barging carries. Very quickly establishing himself as one of the first names on the team sheet.

2 – Patrick Latu (San Francisco) The ‘Rush’ have turned their fortunes around with two wins on the trot. Latu has moved from prop to hooker and handed the burden of the captaincy to Volney Rouse. That seems to have done the trick as he rumbled his way over the San Diego defense en route to a serious upset victory at Torero Stadium.

3 – Ramiro Herrera (Argentina) It’s not often a man of nearly 130kg sticks around for an entire 80 minutes, but that’s what Herrera did against France. Low in the carry department but his job is to smash people on the fringes and win ruck ball, and that’s what he did. Great effort from the big man.

4 – Guido Petti (Argentina) Well of course we have to mention that try, but Petti’s work rate around the field was outstanding on Sunday. It was hard to keep track of how many tackles he made, and he did his best holding down a scrum in the smallest Pumas second row pairing in decades.

5 – Samu Manoa (Toulon) While his country was fronting up against the Azzurri, Manoa was putting in a shift for Toulon against Montpellier. Numerous carries into heavy traffic contributed to a spot earned in the Top 14 final.

6 – Juan Manuel Gaminara (Uruguay) After a dreadful match against Romania, Gaminara pulled up his socks and dragged his team out of the muck against Spain. Scored a try himself and spurred his charges on to a shutout effort in defense.

7 – Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe (Toulon) Even better for Les Toulonnais was the veteran flanker. Played his usual role of doing everything. Passing, covering kicks, defending, he remains a brilliant player at the age of 34.

8 – Facundo Isa (Argentina) It feels like we are witnessing the emergence of a world class player at the moment. Isa’s form has been nothing short of astounding this season. His offensive output is near the top every game, and his work in defense on Sunday is what really cemented his spot in the team.

9 – Gordon McRorie (Canada) What a response! After being publicly shamed for a poor kicking performance against Japan, McRorie rebounded the best way he could – with a 26-point man-of-the-match effort against Russia. In any other week Shaun Davies might have been an obvious choice, but that he wasn’t picked tells you all you need to know about the Scottish-Canadian’s impact.

10 – Nicolás Sánchez (Argentina) Where Isa is emerging, Sánchez is now well established as one of the best in the world. There just doesn’t seem to be any weaknesses in his game. Against France on Sunday he seemed to do everything right, and the Pumas came through comfortably because of it.

11 – Manuel Montero (Argentina) A mention for Jordan Wilson-Ross, who scored his first test try after replacing Taylor Paris early on against Russia. Similarly Juan Imhoff, who notched the match-winner for Racing 92. The going this week, however, goes to the plus-sized Montero, who is working his way back to top form and caused France all sorts of problems in Tucumán. Scored one try and created another for Joaquín Tuculet.

12 – Roland Suniula (Ohio) There were two players named Suniula wearing no12 on the weekend, but this one gets the edge in terms of impact. The Aviators brought the Stampede to a grinding halt at CIBER Field with a devastating display of offensive might, and Roland was right in the middle of it. When everyone else outside of you gets on the try sheet, you know you’ve had a good game.

13 – Mozac Samson (Canada) Impressed in his short time on the field against Japan, and went one step further with a dynamic effort against Russia. Seemed to break the line with every touch and played a big hand in a few scores with his offloads.

14 – Spike Davis (Ohio) We could opt for the sniping Santiago Cordero, but instead we’ll take the bulldozing Davis once again. There are intricacies of the game he is still learning but the art of putting one’s head down and smashing your way to the line – that one he has perfected.

15 – Will Holder (USA) First cap in four years and at a new position, but he looked as calm as anything at fullback. Kicked well and his big break in the first half created the penalty try – though perhaps he should have passed earlier to make it a clean score? Gets a very close decision ahead of Canada’s Matt Evans and the aforementioned Joaquín Tuculet of Argentina.