Team of the Pool Stages: 2023 Rugby World Cup

There have been some fantastic performances throughout the pool stages, and we've put together side from the top players from the past five weekends of action.

Here is RUCK's Team of the Pool Stages, for the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

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15. Thomas Ramos (France)

14. Damien Penaud (France)

11. Matteo Carreras (Argentina)

Two of France's flyers make it into our back three as Thomas Ramos comes in at full-back, and Damien Penaud occupies the right wing. Both players are leading the way on the points scoring front, and have been instrumental to France's success so far in the competition. Ramos leads the way as the tournament's top points scorer, as he's contributed a total of 61 points for Les Bleus.

Ramos' efforts include a try against Italy, and speaking of tries, no player can match Damien Penaud's record at the competition. Despite only playing in three of France's four pool stage matches, the Bordeaux-Begles man has crossed over for six tries already. This saw Penaud secure a key score against the All Blacks, record a hat-trick against Namibia and a brace against Italy.

The left wing will be occupied by Argentina's Matteo Carreras. There were plenty of viable options for this spot, but we picked the Puma after a star-making performance against Japan. Carreras' hat-trick against the Brave Blossoms secured Argentina progression out of Pool D, and a date against Wales in the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals.

The midfield for this dream team of the pool stages, features arguably our first man on the team sheet. Bundee Aki has been in inspired form for Ireland, with stand-out performances in every appearence he's made so far at the tournament. Aki leads the way for successful carries at the competition with 61, and comes in at second for total clean breaks, with nine.

Only Damien Penaud (11) has made more clean breaks than the Connacht centre. Aki and his midfield partner Garry Ringrose have continued from where they left off in the 2023 Six Nations, for a formiddable partnership against their Pool B opposition. Ringrose narrowly missed out on the outside centre spot, as we hand the number 13 jersey to Fijian centre Waisea Nayacalevu.

The Toulon centre has been a pivotal part of Fiji's Rugby World Cup progress, as the Pacific Islanders have booked their spot for a quarter-final clash against England. Simon Raiwalui's side have been led on the pitch by Nayacalevu, who's key contributions saw him boss the match against Australia, and score tries against Wales and Georgia. Nayacalevu has only missed 19 minutes of match action, as he left the pitch against Portugal with the job seemingly accomplished, before the late Portugese winner.

There has been some tough competition for both halfback spots, with two French stars missing out on the jerseys. In the absence of Romain Ntamack, fly-half Matthieu Jalibert has risen to the occasion for France, to take them to top spot in Pool A. Also, Antoine Dupont's unreal standards continue to rise, yet an unfortunate cheek-bone fracture hindered his influence upon the latter stages of the pools.

So, we have cast our picks for the nine and ten jerseys, with Wales' Gareth Davies and Ireland Johnny Sexton's taking to the mantles. Starting off with Sexton, the Leinster legend finished the pool stages as the third highest points scorer, with 51 (behind Thomas Ramos: 61 and Damien McKenzie: 53). Sexton slotted the second most conversions with 14 (again behind Ramos: 19), but his most impressive accolade came in the win over Tonga.

Sexton's try against the Tongans saw him overtake Ronan O'Gara's long standing record, as Ireland's all-time leading points scorer. Sexton was instrumental in Ireland's win over South Africa, and continues to drive his side forward towards a historic first ever Rugby World Cup title. Partnering Sexton at scrum-half is Wales' Gareth Davies. The Scarlets man played in each of Wales' four matches, as Warren Gatland's men completed a clean sweep to the top of Pool C.

Davies started in the victories over Fiji and Australia, and came off the bench in the triumphs over Georgia and Portugal. Davies scored a key try against the Wallabies, as Wales upset Eddie Jones' side with a significant 40-6 landslide. Davies' efforts see him keep out the World Cup superstar scrum-halves to the nine jersey, with Dupont dropped to the bench in our squad.

The forward pack begins with Wales loose-head Gareth Thomas occupying the number one jersey. France prop Cyrill Baille was a contender to this spot, but an unfortunate injury saw him miss the opening two rounds of action. Thomas put in three big shifts on the loose-head, as Wales secured a clean run of victories to see out Pool C in style. Thomas ran out for an immense 71 minutes against Fiji, which is rarely seen by a prop in the modern international game.

He followed this up with a 66 minute outing against the Wallabies, and earned a well-deserved breather against Portugal. Another impressive run out against Georgia saw him fall just shy of the hour mark, but his on-field efforts presented just how much gas Thomas has in the tank, which will aid his side to no end in the quarter-final clash with Argentina. Slotting inside Thomas is France hooker Peato Mauvaka, who has been one of the break-out talents of the tournament.

Mauvaka was called into action early, after an eleventh minute hamstring early injury to Julien Marchand, in France's opening round match against the All Blacks. The hooker impressed all onlookers, for a 69 minute run-out at the Stade de France. Mauvaka followed this up with a try against Uruguay in round two, and two starts against Namibia and Italy. Mauvaka doubled his try tally, as he crossed over against the Azzurri last weekend.

Evergreen tight-head Tadhg Furlong gets the nod to start in our three jersey. Still rightly amongst the conversation with the world's best tight-head props, Furlong has had a significant impact upon Andy Farrell's side, with his welcomed return to form following injury absence in the 2023 Six Nations. He started each of Ireland's four pool stage matches, and like Thomas, ran out for a marathon 71 minute showing against Tonga. A key pillar in the Irish front row, Furlong's presence certainly contributed to his side taking top spot in Pool B.

An honourable mention is in order for Sam Whitelock, as who became the most-capped All Black of all time against Uruguay. Whitelock surpassed Richie McCaw's record for his 150th cap, and in doing so also took the title of most Rugby World Cup caps, with 23. However, Whitelock misses out on our team of the pool stages, with Springbok's lock RG Snyman and England's Ollie Chessum getting the call-in.

Chessum featured in all four of England's pool stage matches, and featured just once off the bench. The Leicester Tigers man has steadily established himself amongst Steve Borthwick's go-to options, and has built a nice second row pairing with Maro Itoje. Chessum's try against Samoa kicked England into gear, and towards an eventual victory despite the albeit unexpected fight put up by Manu Samoa.

Packing down the scrum with Chessum, RG Snyman has been impressing during his extended run in the 'Boks fold. A regular member of the 'bomb squad', Snyman replaced Eben Etzebeth early in proceedings against Scotland, as the Sharks man suffered a shoulder injury. Snyman then followed this up by dominating Romania for the entire second half, and having a physical impact upon Ireland.

Starting off the back-row is Japan captain Michael Leitch. Despite not seeing his side progress into the knock-out stages, Leitch never stopped fighting for Japan, and consistently ran out performances that the Brave Blossoms fans admired. With 62 tackles, Leitch comes in at fourth highest in the overall tackle charts, and having played all but six minutes in the pool stages, he's undeniably amongst the hardest workers.

Leitch also presented his abilities in attack, as he scored two tries for Japan in the pool stages. The flanker corssed over to score in the dominant win against Chile, and added an important try in the triumph over Samoa. Leitch is joined in the back-row by two of his Pacific Nations Cup rivals, with Sione Havili Talitui taking the number seven jersey. The Tongan flanker made more tackles out of any player throughout the pool stages, with a staggering effort of 69 tackles in just four matches.

Similarly to Leitch, Talitui played all but eleven minutes of the pool stages, and was a key player in Tonga's win over Romania to close out last weekend's action. Finishing off the starting XV is Fijian number eight Villiame Mata. He gets the nod for his impressive power and stamina around the park, as the best ball-carrying forward of the pool stages.

Mata made 44 carries in total, which stands as the best effort by any forward, and the fourth highest overall. Despite not scoring a try in the competition yet, Mata has been a key figure in the Fijian side, with a prominent feature in the win over the Wallabies. England fans will need to be weary of Mata's talents ahead of the quarter-final show-down this weekend.

16. Ronan Kelleher (Ireland)

17. Andrew Porter (Ireland)

18. Tomas Francis (Wales)

19. Charles Ollivon (France)

20. Antoine Dupont (France)

21. George Ford (England)

22. Will Jordan (New Zealand)

23. Damien McKenzie (New Zealand)