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After four weeks of international action in the Quilter Nations Series, a full weekend of the three major European leagues – Top 14, Gallagher PREM Rugby, and United Rugby Championship (URC), followed by the Champions and Challenge Cups - will take centre stage and continue in the limelight through December and January, until the Guinness Men’s Six Nations starts in February.
While new stars came to prominence in November (and maybe one or two more in the Wales versus South Africa match), there were others who had to fight to stop their status from falling too much, or who were simply out of form.
ATR looks at five players who will want remind people of their value this winter…
Gregory Aldritt (La Rochelle and France)
One moment you’re vice-captain to one of your country’s all-time greats, the next you’re watching from the stands.
For a long time, it felt like Aldritt was an immovable part of Fabien Galthie’s team, locked in as number eight. Powerful, quick, good hands, and fluent in English, he was a dream to the Anglo-Saxon broadcasting world, shoved forward for interviews whenever France or La Rochelle claimed another trophy.
He missed the tour to New Zealand due to the club-federation agreement on international minutes, and after Mickael Guillard played well most thought the pair would team up for Les Bleus, especially for their opener against South Africa. Instead Aldritt was viewing from afar.
We know that ended badly, and while Galthie immediately brought Aldritt back, strong performances against Leicester Tigers and the Stormers in the Champions Cup will remind Galthie that leaving him out is an experiment not to be repeated.
Federico Ruzza (Benetton and Italy)
C’era una volta, as many Italian fairy tales start, there was a Benetton man who was Italy’s lineout guru, a man who loved to break down the oppositions calls, while providing a steady stream of possession for his side.
That was before the rise of Andrea Zambonin, who is a mix of Ruzza’s athleticism and Niccolo Cannone’s power. Zambonin’s form meant that this autumn Ruzza played 10 minutes against Australia, 30 against South Africa, before starting and finishing the clash with Chile.
Ruzza, 31, has been an important player for four Italy coaches, and it is unfortunate that the powerful nature of the sport means he has been edged out. For the next two months, he will have the power of Eli Snyman next to him in Benetton colours, which will give him the chance to show off his lineout prowess and running game to the full.
Santiago Carreras (Bath and Argentina)
A slight exception, in that there was nothing wrong with his form as Wales, Scotland, and England will attest to, but more how he fits into the Pumas team, with coach Felipe Contepomi preferring to use him as a finisher, albeit one with the ability to cover flyhalf and fullback magnificently, rather than start.
Carreras will now head back to Bath having had only one week off since the start of September. He joined in the summer, and has played four times, but he faces a similar dilemma as he does with Los Pumas.
At Bath, he is behind Finn Russell at flyhalf and there are no guarantees for him at fullback with Tom de Glanville playing himself into England contention. He will certainly feature in black, blue and white, but needs to hit the ground running for the best chance of being first choice.
Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins and England)
The Harlequins backrower had nowhere near the autumn he wanted. Having established himself as England coach Steve Borthwick’s go-to hybrid backrow/second row, when the matches came, he watched as second row Alex Coles and flanker Guy Pepper leapfrogged him in the pecking order.
Cunningham-South played 53 minutes against Fiji as number eight, before Henry Pollock replaced him. Then came a late two minutes against New Zealand, and that was that.
It needs to be stressed that he is still 22, so plenty of time for more caps, but some strong showings in the PREM and Investec Champions Cup will keep him in the conversation.
Jack Crowley/Sam Prendergast (Munster/Leinster and Ireland)
Ireland’s autumn campaign ended in inglorious fashion against South Africa, with head coach Andy Farrell no clearer of which of the pair should be Ireland’s first choice number 10.
Crowley got the nod for New Zealand and Japan, and was replaced by Prendergast after 67 and 51 minutes. Prendergast ran out against Australia, and the pair swapped on the hour mark. He held the shirt against South Africa, and it wasn’t long until Crowley joined him on the pitch, coming on for injured wing Tommy O’Brien and slotting in at fullback with Mack Hansen moving to wing.
Soon after they were both in the sinbin, after fairly dim yellow cards, the image of the pair on the naughty step summarising the nature of Ireland’s muddled performance.
In fairness though, Farrell doesn’t need to panic. Both players are young with Crowley 25, and Prendergast, 22, and so have plenty of time to build their experience. Farrell also has more pressing issues to resolve with his ageing team.
They are both likely to miss their URC matches but then have the chance to show what they can do over two weekends of Champions Cup action, a competition Leinster and Munster love and pine for. Yes, they didn’t show their best in November, but maybe that was because of those around them, rather than anything Crowley and Prendergast did themselves.