1. Mamuka Gorgodze (Georgia)
The entire world fell in love with the Georgian captain when he had this reaction to being named Man of the Match in his country’s 10 – 43 loss to New Zealand. The grace and humility with which he received this accolade is the epitome of the back row’s character. Standing at 1.96m, and weighing in at 118kg, the Georgian “talisman” – in the words of coach Milton Haig – has fondly been nicknamed ‘Gorgodzilla’ by his former Montpellier teammates, and ‘Gulliver’ by Georgian fans, which both stem from his imposing size and rampaging style of play. The top Georgian tryscorer of all time, and fifth on the all time points scoring list for his country, he added two to his 25 total over the course of this campaign, despite an unruly yellow card in the fixture against Argentina for slowing down ruck ball. Add to that the 7 turnovers in 4 games, 65m made in carries and 10 defenders beaten, and you start to get a picture of how influential this man really is.
Over the course of the last 4 weeks, he has spearheaded his team to their best Rugby World Cup to date, recording two wins against Tonga and Namibia, and respectable losses against Argentina and New Zealand, and ensured that the team have been at the forefront of discussions as to the inclusion of tier two nations in top level rugby competition.
2. Bernard Foley (Australia)
Thank God Matt Giteau scored in England’s horror defeat to Australia in the third round of Pool A matches, otherwise Bernard Foley could have single handedly claimed the victory. This was the game in which he really silenced the critics, putting in a spectacular performance that saw him contribute 28 points to Australia’s 33 – 13 win, including two tries – the second of which is already a strong contender for try of the tournament – and producing what was arguably the most memorable Australian fly half performance of the post-Larkham era. Indeed, it has even persuaded Rugby World Cup organisers to change the man-of-the-match voting system for the quarter-finals, after Joe Launchbury was awarded the honour for the game in which Foley was by far the stand out player.
And, he was able to back it up against Wales, in which his 5 penalties saw him outclass his opposite number Dan Biggar, and gave Australia the 15 – 6 win necessary to top the group and draw lowest ranked qualifier, Scotland, in the quarter finals. His defence in this situation was also impeccable, and he was a solid part of the stout Wallaby defensive lineup that stopped Wales from going over the try line, even when they were reduced to 13 men following Will Genia and Dean Mumm’s removal to the sin bin mid-way through the second half.
Back home, at the Waratahs, he is nicknamed ‘The Iceman‘ for the cool and collected manner in which he so easily converts match winning goals, and he has proven this over the last month, with 56 points to his name across 3 games. Add to this the 113m made in carries, 26 runs and 6 defenders beaten, and it is easy to see why his name has become so well known in recent weeks.
3. DTH Van Der Merwe (Canada)
The 29 year old Canadian tops the table for the Most Metres made in the World Cup so far, with 389m to his name across the four games, eclipsing the competition of Tonga’s Telusa Veainu who has racked up 351m, and England’s Mike Brown who stands at third on the table with 331m gained. He also has scored 4 tries – including his score in Canada’s final game against Romania which saw him become the first player representing a tier two nation to score a fiver-pointer in four successive RWC matches – with 7 clean breaks and 14 defenders beaten over the course of his tournament. The South African born winger has certainly made a name for himself, appearing in the top 5 for almost every attacking stat, putting him amongst the best of the emerging players from the pools, despite the fact Canada could not record a win in their pool D fixtures. The 29 year old will join Llanelli Scarlets for the 2015 – 16 season, now that his 18th world ranked team have exited the competition.
4. Dan Biggar (Wales)
As far as kicking routines go, Jonny Wilkinson’s infamous hands-clasped stance was, before this World Cup at least, the most easily recognisable worldwide. Yet, the 2015 tournament has introduced us to the ‘Biggarena‘ – the facebook video of Biggar’s pre-kick ticks to the musical backdrop of the Macarena has been watched by 1.1 million people – and the Welsh fly half has certainly put in a bid to rival the fame of the English legend. The 25 year old has added 25 points in 3 games, and is one of the most talked about players in a young Welsh side that has been ravaged by injury. With devastating accuracy on the kicks that effectively left England the first ever host to be knocked out of a World Cup in the pool stages, he only missed his first kick right at the end of the first half in Wales’ last pool game against Australia, whilst his tackle count is equally high for an outside-half, to the extent that Ospreys backs coach Gruff Rees called him “the bravest, gutsiest 10 in the world game”. His starting jersey has been cemented amongst such stunning stats, yet pre-tournament, Biggar was not even Wales’ first choice kicker, and was only drafted in when Leigh Halfpenny retired injured from the Welsh World Cup squad back in September. Indeed, South Africa will need to look to keep him under control in order to progress any further in the competition.
5. The Entire Team, but especially Michael Leitch (Japan)
To write about the RWC 2015 Pools and not consider the Japanese effort would just be wrong, but how to pick just one player from the team that won the world’s hearts with an epic defeat of South Africa in the first round of the Pool B lineups? Up to 10th in the world rankings thanks to similar victories over Samoa and the USA, they have become the first team in RWC history to win 3 out of the 4 games and not qualify, due to their lack of bonus point from any fixture.
For me, however, the stand out has been 27 year old back row Michael Leitch. The New Zealand born squad captain has been influential in the success of the side and is characterised by his tireless enthusiasm for the game. He led from the front against the Springboks, topping the tackle count with 17 and crossing the line himself for his twelfth international try, whilst he made the call that saw the Japanese go for the corner instead of taking easy points and pursue the match win. 3 games later, he now tops the table for most tackles in the 2015 competition alongisde Italy’s Francesco Minto, with 51 each to their names, and has made 36 carries over the gainline. Having signed a new contract with the Chiefs earlier this year, he’s definitely one I’ll be looking out for as the Super Rugby season develops over the coming months.
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