Team of the Week - Rugby Championship 2024 - Round 3

rugby Championship round number three folks team of the week let's pick 15 players from the four rugby Championship sides who stood out at the weekend with some stats performances and whatnot and you guys can let us know your thoughts on who your key picks for the week were pleasing to see really a couple of close games this week because um I don't know I feel like it makes a bit more for kind of interesting picks where each team can genuinely have a few contenders first guy I'm going to go with and it's an Aussie in Angus Bell some people still don't rate Angus Bell and I won't here for it man Angus Bell is a bloody good loose head prop he was taking some names especially defensively this week for the WABE he finishes the game with 18 from 19 tackles including five dominant tackles which is easily more than anybody else this week in terms of pure bone crunching ability he was helping put the pummer scrum under a bit of pressure he even finishes the game with a tri assist which is uh unusual for a loose head prop he has eight carries he has 3 meters which is kind of low for him because he's usually a big unit around the park but in the W conditions no one was really getting a heck of a lot of meters per carry couple of passes wins a turnover only concedes one penalty Angus Bell I think him and tupo in the starting front row for the wallabies make their forward pack back a lot more I don't know solid than it was particularly in the weeks when uh they both kind of weren't there in tandem uh tight head I am going to go with one of my favorite players and that's FR maluba from South Africa just quietly doing France maluba stuff he's not going to win any headlines this week but I think he did kind of what he does normally big defensive from him eight from nine tackles obviously uh he gets pulled pretty early in the second half because the Box made a lot of changes he would have had a lot more tackles if he hadd gotten more minutes he has a couple of carries he has a couple of meters he has a pass doesn't concede any penalties he probably would have thought he might have got a bit more reward at scrum time but the scrums were kept largely kind of unpenalized for the most part but yeah man FR MOBA doing France melber stuff I think if you're a spring box fan keep enjoying that guy playing for your side because he's a very good player uh hooker I am going to go with a kiwi in Cody Taylor he was at my wife's work the other day couple of weeks ago before they headed out to South Africa because my wife's company she works for uh I believe is kind of one of the associated sponsors with the all black so they had three All Blacks come and pay them a visit one of them was Cody Taylor my wife described him as the kind of slightly awkward one who probably didn't want to be there such as the life of an all black I guess you get roped into some PR events which you maybe didn't want to do but in terms of his on the field stuff I think he'd be pretty happy with Cody Taylor he has eight carries for 24 meters which is a pretty good shift against a pretty stingy springbox defense which wasn't coughing up a lot of meters um he also has a try which is a mole try again those things aren't that common to get against South Africa so they'll certainly think that one was uh was pretty pleasing and um one of his carries is that uh turnover ball when Ben Jason Dixon kind of coughed up the pill he's the one who pounces on that turnover ball which kind of sets up later on the Caleb Clark try so I think that's uh you know pretty good commitment from Taylor to be that first guy on the spot 11 from 12 tackles is a good defensive shift he do conceived one penalty but the line out was operating largely pretty well I think it was at 90 something per for the game think they only lost one the all black so Cody Taylor Maybe awkward at PR events but on the field very good contribution from him uh locks I'm going to go with I think I've picked him every bloody week Peter step D toy like he doesn't get the same kind of plaits that antoan Dupont gets maybe because he's a Ford like you know everybody hops on about Antoine Deon and rightly so because he's a good player and I feel like Peter Stef gets a lot of credit but not like Anan Dupont level credit you know and he probably should because I know he's been former World Player of the Year so he's literally been given the highest kind of individual honor you can get in rugby but I don't know I still feel like he's not getting uh enough enough uh enough Kudos maybe that's just me um his work rate around the park is just still unbelievable 11 carries that's very busy he's the top South African tackler also with 11 from 12 he makes 24 M he wins four lineups remember he's filling in a lock again with this lock and crisis South Africa got an injury he's um you know he started his career kind of as lock or loose forward and then basically became one of the best if not the best Blindside flanker in the world and question marks about you know well if you put him at locky kind of losing that kind of xfactor like the opposite conversation you get with the to when people say oh you lose you lose it to's abilities when you put him on The Blind Side you know people say the opposite with Peter stiff but a man he's equally good wherever you put him he's going to have a massive contribution he does ConEd a penalty he does have a turnover conceded but he also steals a lineup um I don't know man his his work rate is just genuinely quite incredible so yeah Peter step D toy once again uh I'm also going to put his uh locking partner sp's name uh alongside him R noia uh maybe not quite as same level as petery toy in terms of contribution or Flash but his key roll stuff he did well did he make his tackles for the most part yes he's also won of sou afric's top tackles with nine from 11 and very busy at line out time sou African line out didn't look as sharp as it has looked in other times but he takes 10 line outs which is easily the most line out takes of anybody in this week's competition he takes the line out which leads to the the mall Drive which leads to bongies try um so you know if you don't win that line out you don't get the mall you don't get the try so uh him being busy at line out time is certainly a key factor in um in you know securing his own team's ball and putting their best foot forward he has four carries for 14 meters which is good he beats a Defender he's got five passes core roll done pretty well from uh from Ro noia in the minutes that he got loose forwards man the South African theme continues here I'm going to go with quaka Smith Super Sub unbelievable like he really makes me like feel like bow and Barrett like Circa was it 2015 you know when he was just that Super Sub different like because he's a back versus a forward like bod was really young back then qu is a veteran campaigner at this point but just the impact that you know you can get when you bring him on is a good thing like he used to get you know edgy seat when you would see bod come on Off the Bench you get that with quaka these days and man like his stats don't do him Justice they've given him six carries for 14 M including a try and that try was proper leg drive low to the ground power over before anyone can even react he's given three from three tackles he doesn't concede any penalties somehow he's not given a turnover he at least pilfered one All Blacks ball maybe just cuz nobody was there and he just was the first man on the spot I don't know but he at least turned over one all black ball but he's not given it in the stats but man that guy's impact From the Bench cannot be underestimated he is genuinely just that kind of Super Sub material and it kind of makes it hard to start him because you get the best impact from him from the bench so yeah there you go quer Smith uh the other flank I am going to go with an ozi in Carlo Tano he's not frza MCC frza MC is probably based on super op form like the best performing Aussie player in 2024 but he's out injured and uh Liam writes out injured as well so Carlo Tano was called up to the squad to take this open side flank of birth and he is a hard tackling defensive minded number seven and that is absolutely what you got from him against the Pumas and I don't know that the Aussies win that game without a guy making these tackles and winning these turnovers 22 out of 22 tackles was a massive shift and behind only Marcos Kremer this week I think I had 23 he wins two turnovers key moments when Argentina are on attack he's able to turn them over offensive numbers are never that flash with Tano seven runs four meters beats a Defender has a pass you pick Carlo Tano to make heaper tackles basically to be your top tackler he's going to do that and he's going to thr the breakdown he does that so defensive defensive player doesn't do the flashy stuff as much but again equally as important for a team and then other loose forward I'm going to go with is uh one of the Pumas guys in Juan montine Gonzalez he gets their only try of the match from them all uh it's a interesting one that in those conditions maybe there there weren't more tries I don't know I guess the handling meant that at times there was a bit of drop ball so there are fewer tries but one try who would have picked Argentina only to get one try in that game and it was a mold try Australia has been weak at Mo defense and they exposed them there six carries for 17 M and A Defender beaten it's not a bad shift uh from the pummer Lucy and his ability to grab ball and Chuck it round is still one of the best in the business seven passes is pretty good for a number eight six line out wins is the top Argentinian line out operator he also has an offload he doesn't concede any penalties he makes 11 from 12 tackles on defense so one of their kind of top Defenders obviously behind kemma who who's also a defensive Powerhouse like Tano but yeah Juan montin Gonzalez proper skills guy proper High work rate guy very good guy to have in the side so those are the forwards I'll get to some honorable mentions at the end uh backs nine was a really hard one because which one of the nines like really stood out TJ kicked a really nice 5022 but then also gave away a dumb penalty for shouting at the ref um corus RAR was he good enough to be team of the week Jake Gordon for the Aussies Gonzalo butano I don't know none of them really kind of stood out the guy who kind of stood out and it was part of that South African bench having impact I feel like was Grant Williams I mean he took his try really well dummy and snipe close to the All Blacks line without that kind of confidence um you know maybe the All Blacks defense holds on but he picks that key moment and is able to get through for a try six carries six meters beats two Defenders 25 passes uh three kicks from hand he does have um one penalty conceded and one turnover conceded but largely his contribution was a positive one like that's what you want from your bench you want your bench to come on and add impact and it's what we saw from the South Africans in this game and he also did something I liked at the end which I've wondered why guys don't do more it's when there's a couple of seconds left on the clock just run it backwards and then go out you know what I mean like it tends to be like that if there's a couple of seconds left they'll just go through one more phase but every phase that you go through you risk conceding a penalty or being turned over he just ran backwards a few steps and then ran into touch or kicked it into touch like if you're halfway down the field you could literally just I mean Grant Williams's gas if you had 10 seconds he could just run it back to his own end goal area I guess it just looks weird like if you got caught you'd never hear the end of it so guys don't do it but he ran at least a few meters just to run those last couple of seconds on the clock so I thought that was kind of good play from him uh number 10 I gonna go with Sasha feberg and Gulu I don't know that it was like his best game ever but he's still even when he's playing good yeah he's he's he's pretty play good like he certainly missed like that one penalty which was very kickable but he also kicked a bloody 60 M penalty which is the one I'm going to remember probably longer than the miss one uh 7 runs 63 M four Defenders beaten that's a good offensive shift 10 passes seven from Seven tackles those are nice numbers he finishes with the two conversions the four penalties and the 15 kicks from hand and also a part of keeping the game moving like South Africa in Old Times Old Times a few years ago probably wouldn't be taking all the quick lineups and stuff that they take now but nowadays they want to play at high Tempo they're at altitude they want to be getting some tired legs out there which is again maybe not what would you think of when you think the Box you think they want to use their reliable line out their big forwards you know they want a mallet they want a set but no they were taking heaps of quick line outs and he was the recipient of a couple of those as well so um yeah Sasha fber and gazula he's doing all right in springbox colors Midfield I'm going to go with Jordy Barrett uh I think he's been looking pretty good in the last few at least last couple of games because he's been a little bit under the microscope in terms of like is he a midfielder should he be back at fullback you know we've got other guys who could potentially step into the number 12 J but n man Jordi bars looked pretty good he gets the intercept try which is obviously the you know picks off the Enders pass Spring box runting that line out move and he reads it like a book to get to get over the line and show some good gas he had some pretty quick guys chasing him but he's able to kind of hold on and get himself over the line so he finishes with 12 carries 91 M largely from the um from The Intercept but not only the intercept three Defenders beaten not bad throwing that big body as around the clean Breakers obviously The Intercept he also makes seven from Seven tackles which is good he's also a man to receive line out ball like that line out move try the All Blacks got Clark second one they threw it long to Jordi Barrett so you know uh he's a big dude in the Midfield so you can throw those lineup moves to him I guess so that worked he finishes with 10 passes couple of offloads he does have uh the one turnover considered he almost stopped bongi from getting that try dislodge the ball but yeah Jordi Barrett in the Midfield I think looked pretty good 13 I'm going to go with uh the wab bees 13 and Len ikit I do feel like he's one of those skills guys that can help unlock opposition defenses and we saw it because he helped set up the uh the Jake Gordon try like he's the guy who just shifts a little no look inside pass to Tom Wright and then he would have been there if um if Tom Wright had decided to pass right and ik could have gone over for a try but he ends up going left to Gordon so help set up the first try if rugby gave secondary assists Le nikit would certainly be getting that one he finishes with 10 carries for 26 met which is not bad he's got five Defenders beaten which is more than anybody else in that game the defensive numbers were largely pretty decent four passes including two offloads uh five from five tackles even puts through one kick but um yeah with a guy like hmer Stewart inside him who's a very kind of I don't want to say by the Numbers player but a really solid reliable standard number 12 having a little bit of xfactor at 13 I feel like is a good mix so lwer the 13 jumper left wing I'm going to go with Caleb Clark he obviously gets a couple of the tries he takes them pretty well uh right place right time enough gas especially like when he's up against Jesse creel who's been forced out to the wing he's able to get round him like CH and kobby almost bloody got him but uh he did get him but unable to dislodge the ball but Caleb Clark gets those two tries six carries 54 M um three passes he does end up coughing up a penalty misses a couple of tackles but I don't think that Caleb Clark loses his left wing spot anytime soon it's kind of been between him and tia but I feel like Clark has probably secured that spot at least for the foreseeable future speaking of cheslin Colby I put him here I'm not sure his stats do him Justice CU he finishes with only 20 M but he's got six Defenders beaten which is I think more than anybody else for the entire week including sitting down Scott Barrett which is a bit of a mismatch in terms of size he's got the one pass he's credited with two Miss tackles he's got the same tackle numbers as Clark like three from five I'm wondering if they're counting the one on Clark as a Miss tackle because he grabbed Clark as he was going over the the line and tried to slap like tried to you know dislodge the ball from his hands but couldn't quite get around him but he couldn't stop the try but um yeah he's also got a couple of quick throws like he's that guy when the or kicked it for touch but don't find rosed if they're just going to kick it out he's going to throw the ball in quickly which as I said kind of kept that Tempo High wanting to maybe make the most of the altitude Factor but um yeah really athletic trying to keep that 5022 in the field to play like he's 100% commitment Jen kobby and um the team certainly look better when he's on the field and fullback I am going to go with a wabby in Tom right like I don't think bod had his best game of fullback for the ABS FY gave away a yellow card and like he's offensively brilliant but still has some kind of question marks defensively Maria had at least one really good kick from uh the Boop but certainly not his most offensive minded game for the pumers but Tom right man he gets that Tri assist to Gordon where he pops it from the deck that's a proper thing of beauty he's got 45 M which is the second of all the kind of Aussie ball carriers he's got six carries couple of Defenders beaten he's got nine passes which is great involvements from the fullback like he really wants to be up in the line and being that kind of extra distributor five kicks from him so yeah I thought Tom Right contributions very good for the Wes and he has been a locked on pick for for Joe Schmid since he's taking over honorable mentions who didn't I pick tanala tupo at the front for the uh for the Wes I think certainly adds a bit of extra oomph I think they need him Marcus kemer I already gave him a mention but he was certainly tackling the house down for the um for the the Pumas um for the lucies there was a lot like Yas bisa looked bloody good on his return I was sure he didn't pass it I looked up his numbers and absolutely didn't pass it when that I gets the ball he just runs direct but like wins a couple of turnovers and um you know hard bone crunching tackles as well valtini for the wallabies also looked bloody good in the second row salak loto also looked really good hmer stewart uh for the the Wes I thought had a pretty good debut very solid in the Midfield Damon dind obviously threw the intercept pass but was also kind of big at the breakdown one at least a couple of turnovers I already mentioned fussy uh you know great on attack yellow card and that one kick out that he did was kind of not ideal but yeah Matel caras uh in the back field looked really um you know dangerous for the pumers of all the um of all the guys there uh he looked pretty dangerous Ethan blackader was really busy for the ABS in their back row but yeah if you missed any of the games on the weekend and you're in the States flow rugby is the place to watch him I'll put a link down to Flo in the description they got the games on demand and then next week's games all South Africa game two wab be Pumas game two will be really interesting to see you guys let us know your thoughts who would you have in your team of the week if you were picking them let us know your thoughts and I'll talk to you guys again soon see you