Team of the week: Fijians bring the flair
Monday 7 September 2015 17:02, UK
We pick our team of the week from last weekend's World Cup warm-ups following wins for Wales, France, England and Fiji.
It was an impressive win for Fiji, which earned three of their players a place in our team. England's wingers were lethal at Twickenham, but did they make the grade?
With less than two weeks until the World Cup kicks off, here is our team of the week...
15. Mike Brown
Brown looks to have cemented his place at full-back for the World Cup opener against Fiji after an outstanding attacking display for England against Ireland. The Harlequin was superb under the high ball and was a menace with ball in hand, making 74 metres from 19 carries and beating two defenders. He also kicked intelligently.
14. Yoann Huget
Against Scotland, France were a pale imitation of the team that defeated England a fortnight ago, with Huget the exception. The wing enjoyed another decent outing, averaging almost 10m from his 10 carries. Huget made two breaks, beat two defenders and threw two offloads as Les Bleus held on for an unconvincing victory.
13. Mark Bennett
After a spate of injury problems, Scotland's Bennett says he is 'ready to rock and roll' at the World Cup and looked keen to make up for lost time against France. The Glasgow centre held his own against Mathieu Bastareaud and Wesley Fofana and was a threat in attack, making two breaks and beating five defenders. Factor in the poor pitch at the Stade de France and Bennett's stats look even more impressive.
12. Scott Williams
The Scarlets centre was one of the standout performers for Wales on an afternoon where the result paled into insignificance. Williams beat two Italian defenders and had the most carries for the hosts, making 42m. He also won a turnover on a decent all-round display.
11. Jonny May
Strong in both defence and attack, May bumped off Tommy Bowe to score England's opening try against Ireland, and showed serious gas to get over the line for a second time, only for it to be ruled out for a forward pass. He gained 72m from his 10 carries, beating five Irish defenders. The Gloucester wing looked to have nailed down the No 11 shirt for next week's World Cup opener.
10. George Ford
Ford was the consummate professional for England at Twickenham on Saturday. He showed no indication of panic when the Irish surged back on the scoreboard, and his cross-field kick for the Anthony Watson try couldn't have been better placed if he walked over and put it into his hands. he failed to convert one of the two tries, but his first conversion from the touchline was brilliant.
9. Nikola Matawalu
Less than two weeks before their World Cup opener against England at Twickenham, Matawalu and Fiji were running riot across the road at the Stoop as they crushed Canada. The scrum-half scored two of his side's five tries as the Pacific Islanders gave an exhibition of attacking rugby during the first period. Matawalu was taken off as a precaution just before half-time but he had done enough to impress the watching Stuart Lancaster.
1. Jack McGrath
A tough game for any Irishmen on the day and few shining lights, but after going down early in the game it was always going to be an uphill battle. With Cian Healy the first-choice loosehead for Ireland in recent times, McGrath did no harm to his cause with good scrummaging when required and the incredible accolade of putting in the most tackles in an Irish jersey with 16.
2. Ken Owens
Statistically it was a solid weekend for the hooker. In tight games it's important to get the basics right and the Wales lineout and scrum functioned in near-perfect unison. There was one lineout lost against the throw from Wales but 12 won, as well as all four scrum feeds ending up at the back of the Welsh scrum. Additionally Owens was effective with ball in hand while making nine tackles and effecting a turnover.
3. Manasa Saulo
Fiji's scrum has never struck fear into the hearts of many opposition sides, but against Canada they were on point. Granted, the challenge of a Canadian scrum is vastly different from that of an English or Welsh one, but with their attacking threats shown out wide along with a demolition job at scrum time, the Fijians are staking their claim at the right time.
4. Courtney Lawes
A thankless afternoon for the England second row, who did all the things which are required in order to ensure people like May, Watson and Brown had space out wide. He put in 12 tackles and turned the ball over twice in a game in which not everyone could dazzle with ball in hand. He was not overly utilised at the lineout, and did not display his usual wide-ranging game, but gave Lancaster the right message ahead of the World Cup.
5. Leone Nakarawa
The major talking point ahead of the World Cup has been the pool of death containing Australia, Wales and England. Well Fiji are hell-bent on adding to the headaches of the three coaches with some incredibly strong performances this summer. Their set piece has come on leaps and bounds – and part of the is to do with Nakarawa – but the Glasgow lock is still a Fijian at heart; offloading and running like the best of them.
6. Tom Wood
The England flanker was given the man of the match award against Ireland, and it was an all-round performance. The whole of England's back row worked tirelessly at Twickenham but it was Wood who excelled. Tied with Tom Youngs he put in the second-most tackles for the team with 17, gave his side two turnovers and took five lineout balls – more than any other player. A big shift from the 28-year-old.
7. Damien Chouly
Chouly was his usual pesky self when it came to the rucks and mauls of both Scotland and France, but it was in the set piece that he made enuogh of an impression to turn out for our team of the week. The Frenchman took two lineout balls from his own hooker, but also swiped two from the Scotland throw.
8. Sergio Parisse
How much will Italy miss this man when he retires? The Stade Francais No 8 made the most carries out of anyone on both sides against Wales. and with 112m made with ball in hand he was head and shoulders better than his colleagues, with the next best being Luke McLean's 35m. Parisse also took the most lineouts for his side, and was tied first for defenders beaten. In short, it was yet another enormous effort to help his side in a big game.
