Team of the Week

The first full round of the November Internationals has come and gone. There were some notable performances from Americas players both in winning and losing efforts. Some tough calls have been made to finalize what is a line-up of players who played outstanding rugby for their countries.

1 – Lucas Abud (Brazil) Good go-forward ball in the scrums and carrying combined with defense sees Lucas Abud earning the Loose Head spot. The 25-year-old has a strong career ahead of him.

2 – Joe Taufete’e (USA) The best hooker this week was Joe Taufete’e. The Californian scored the game’s opening try against Samoa. His score takes his career record to 13 test tries. He is just two behind Keith Wood who scored 15 in 63 caps. Taufete’e has played just 17 caps.

3 – Jardel Vettorato (Brazil) Few expected the Maori All Blacks to be outperformed in the scum by Brazil but that is precisely what happened. Jardel Vettorato was outstanding at Tight Head and sees off Santiago Medrano who made a massive 25 tackles against Ireland.

4 – Brett Beukeboom (Canada) A try scoring double from Brett Beukeboom helped Canada over the first hurdle in repechage. Both he and fellow Canadian Evan Olmstead impressed in the second-row. Beukeboom’s two tries came in either half.

5 – Tomás Lavanini (Argentina) Matías Alemanno made 24 tackles against Ireland while Lavanini made 22. The former missed one with the later proving to be impenetrable. He was also impressive as a ball-carrier and in the tight. A truly marvelous performance.

6 – Kyle Baillie (Canada) Technique and strength combined well for the Canadian flanker against Kenya. Plenty of offensive and defensive contributions saw Baillie getting the better of Kenya in contact to help Canada throughout the contest.

7 – Hanco Germishuys (USA) The Terminator scored a well-taken try and impressed in general play for the Eagles. Remarkably he was an 11th out replacement for John Quill. Also impressing this weekend was Guido Petti who had his first start out of position at flanker.

8 – Cam Dolan (USA) A try scoring double from the Florida no 8 helped the Eagles to their historic win over Samoa. Huge commitment from Dolan saw him adding another scalp to his impressive test career. His now has 13 test tires from 38 caps.

9 – Santiago Arata (Uruguay) Solid matches against both the Cardiff Blues and Ulster see Santiago Arata making the team. Fellow Uruguayan Agustín Ormaechea also impressed this week, having a fine match for Mont de Marsan.

10 – Will Hooley (USA) The hero for the Eagles was Will Hooley. With time up he landed a penalty to give his team their historic win over Samoa. Dooley did so after earlier missing a regulation kick as he slipped over. With AJ MacGinty out of action it can be said that the USA officially have depth at fly half.

11 – DTH van der Merwe (Canada) In his 53rd test cap the record Canadian try-scorer scored a career first hat-trick at international level. The veteran of three RWCs showed why he is among Canada’s best backs with a tremendous performance in not only scoring tries but causing Kenya havoc.

12 – Paul Lasike (USA) The Eagles mid-fielder was his usual self with ball in hand. His physical presence was a notable asset to take on Samoa at their own game. Lasike also excelled tactically with him intercepting to create a try scoring opportunity.

13 – Matías Orlando (Argentina) A clean break from Matías Orlando resulted in Argentina’s try against Ireland. Orlando would carry strongly in the match and also defend well. His battle with Matías Moroni to be Argentina’s starting 13 continues.

14 – Pedro Verschae (Chile) Scoring twice against the Sudamérica XV was Pedro Verschae. While he did so playing fullback he makes the side based on his all-around performance. Tomás MacGaw went over for two himself while Matt Evans impressed for Canada.

15 – Theo Sauder (Canada) A brace of tries against Kenya from Theo Sauder is enough for him to make the selection. Yet his performance was far beyond this as he was Canada’s best back in the game. There were no points for Emiliano Boffelli but he put in a strong showing against Ireland.