Quarterfinals demand something extra from the players to stand out and deserve a place in our team of the week. Springboks Bongi Mbonambi, Eben Etzebeth and Cheslin Kolbe were the stars of the week
1 Thomas Gallo (Argentina) - Rock solid in the scrum and full of energy. Showed what a ball-carrying presence he is.
2 Bongi Mbonambi (Springboks) - His line-out throwing was good and put in some big hits on defence as well.
3 Frans Malherbe (Springboks) - The big prop put in a huge shift out there. He was immovable in the scrums once again. He was also one of his team’s top defenders out there.
4 Eben Etzebeth (Springboks) - He was a villain at the breakdown, showing his sheer power to score a great try and a monster in defence.
5. Scott Barrett (All Blacks) – He put in a big shift on defence and hit plenty of rucks.
6. Courtney Lawes (England) - Repeatedly fought fire with physical fire and despite getting dumped into first-half touch, however, he dusted himself off and continued to impress.
7 Marcos Kremer (Argentina) - He was the player who had made the most dominant tackles.
8. Ben Earl (England) - England’s best player. He carried smartly and it was his popped pass on halfway that ignited the move for his team’s second try.
9 Antoine Dupont (France) - Dupont didn’t skip a beat. Dupont looked cool, calm and collected back in the Test arena. The halfback kicked well but was especially impressive on the back of his quick and clever passing game.
10 Santiago Carreras (Argentina) – Showed what a real threat he is at the line, and kept the Welsh defence guessing at all times with a few line breaks.
11 Cheslin Kolbe (Springboks) - He was pure class in the Springbok backline.
12 Damian de Allende (Springboks) - He was a powerhouse again in the midfield and his defence in the midfield was brilliant.
13 Jesse Kriel (Springboks) - Arguably his best performance in a Bok jersey. He was a force on the attack and defence.
14 Emiliano Boffelli (Argentina) - He kicked 7/8 kicks. After a strong early start from Wales, it was the winger’s boot that kept Argentina in the game.
15. Beauden Barrett (All Blacks) – He looked cool as a cucumber on defence and covered the backfield well.