Autumn Nations Series | Player Of The Week | Round 1
Autumn Nations Series | Player Of The Week | Round 1
All Blacks backrow Wallace Sititi dominates England at the Allianz Stadium, as Scott Robertson's side beats Steve Borthwick's team 24-22.
Test rugby is back, baby!
For Rugby fans, it is hard to beat the month of November, as the Southern Hemisphere heavyweights make their annual pilgrimage north to face their Six Nations rivals.
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Getting things underway this weekend were two barnstorming matches between England and New Zealand at Allianz Stadium, before Scotland hosted Fiji at Murrayfield.
Standing in direct contradiction to one another, the two fixtures could not have been more different, with England losing in the last act of play, while Scotland shredded Fiji for more than 50 points.
As ever, with these sorts of articles, nailing down just one performer as the best player for the round is a challenge. Across the board, both fixtures showed several impressive performances.
In London, All Blacks backrow Wallace Sititi announced himself to the world as an already world-class operator at just 22 years old as he dominated proceedings.
Topping the carry charts for his side with 16 for 77 meters, with three defenders beaten and three line breaks, is a stat line the best back-three players in the world would envy.
Wallace Sititi looks made for test rugby#ENGvNZLpic.twitter.com/zQU27qqWWw
— EK Rugby Analysis (@ek_rugby) November 2, 2024
Throw into the mix his outlandish defensive work rate at both the tackle point and in the breakdown, and you get a full view of a well-rounded backrow who has all of the characteristics to become this generation’s answer to Ardie Savea.
North of the border, our second contender for player of the round was the electric Darcy Graham, who scored four tries for Scotland against Fiji.
Joining Edinburgh teammate Duhan van der Merwe as the top try-scorer in Scottish history for a brief moment, before the left winger dotted down for a try of his own, Graham returned to the international fold with a bang following a year out with injury.
Ending his day with 72 meters made from just six carries shows how lethally effective the pocket rocket winger was when given half a chance. Most importantly, his performance undoubtedly will have shaken up the perceived pecking order within the Scottish ranks ahead of the bigger tests that lay ahead.
Given the magnitude of the test match, we are going to go ahead and give Sititi the nod as our player of the week in what feels like the early days of an all-time career.
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