Rugby World Cup – Team Of Week 4

 

Week four once again treated the fans to some brilliant matches. Great performance by Scottish winger Darcy Graham, Fiji's prop Luke Tagi who must be one of the discoveries of the tournament while Ben Healy flyhalf of Scotland stole the show with a brilliant performance.

1. Jamie Bhatti (Scotland) - Scrummaged well, and was prominent in the build-up to the first try. Twice denied a maiden Test try.

2. Codie Taylor (All Blacks) - Didn’t get his running game going but did everything else that could be asked of him. Nailed all eight of his lineout deliveries. 

3 Luke Tagi (Fiji) - One of the discoveries of the tournament, Tagi has really put himself in the shop window in terms of his club future. Was more like a rampaging No.8 in the loose.

4. Brodie Retallick (All Blacks) - Strong in the lineouts, taking four deliveries for NZ and stealing two off Italian feeds. Put in some monstrous hits, never taking a backward step. 

5. Grant Gilchrist (Scotland) - Worked hard to allow others to shine, and managed the lineout well. 

6. Shannon Frizell (All Blacks) - Got involved early on both sides of the ball, making one rollicking tackle. Looked good in the open field.

7. Hamish Watson (Scotland) - Looked like a man on a mission on his first appearance at this World Cup. Some savage carrying sat down more than one Romanian defender.

8 Viliame Mata (Fiji) - Mata’s athleticism and ball-carrying ability were on full display as he made crucial metres for Fiji, especially in broken play.

9. Aaron Smith (All Blacks) - Grabbed a try off the back of a push-over maul, which no doubt infuriated his teammates in the pack. Earned himself a second with a nice dart from another forward drive. Had his hat trick in the 34th minute after running a good support line off Jordie Barrett.

10. Ben Healy (Scotland) - Got Scotland’s attack working and deserved his try, albeit the Romanian resistance was scarce. Flawless too from the tee.

11 Selestino Ravutaumada (Fiji) - Ravutaumada was super impressive on the wing, displaying good defensive skills and offering a real strike option for Fiji as a crash ball.

12. Jordie Barrett (All Blacks) - An excellent return to the field. 

13. Izaia Perese (Australia) – Opened his World Cup account with a big bounce on a Portuguese centre, Perese looked dangerous at times and made some good defensive reads. 

14. Darcy Graham (Scotland) - Set the tone with a first-half hat-trick and more than 240m made with the ball in hand. The Edinburgh wing also made the telling incision for Price to score, then rounded off a superb display with his fourth late on.

15. Damian McKenzie (All Blacks) – On in 64th minute. Sparked a nice break down the right-hand flank with his first touch – a perfect skip pass out to Jordan on the wing. Scored when he next got his hands on the ball, showing a clean pair of heels and cutting between two Italian defenders.