"Flopped" - Five players who went backwards this autumn

Here, we look at five players whose autumn campaigns raised more questions than answers, each now facing an uphill fight to reclaim their place as the Six Nations approaches.

Against Wales, Ratima had moments where he looked composed, but he never quite brought his usual running spark. His early left-footed grubber went astray, though he settled into his passing game as the match went on. His box-kicking was reliable, and as the Welsh side began to fade, his calmness and distribution started to shine through.

It was a promising yet uneven performance—encouraging in parts, but with clear areas to tighten up before the season gets going. For now, he remains well behind the in-form Cam Roigard, and this autumn only widened that gap.

People have long suggested that once referees clamped down properly on Porter’s scrummaging, he might be found wanting—and this autumn felt like the proof. He was repeatedly put under pressure by South Africa’s powerhouse front row, giving away several penalties and eventually receiving a yellow card.

To his credit, he still offered plenty around the park, but the damage at scrum time was hard to overlook. His mixed defensive and loose-play contributions couldn’t outweigh the set-piece struggles that ultimately cost his side.

Etzebeth produced a strong body of work this autumn, but it ended on a sour—and frankly needless—note.

In the dying moments of the huge win over Wales, he lost his composure, lashing out at Alex Mann and making contact with the flanker’s eye with his thumb. It was an ugly end to what had otherwise been a superb European tour, capped by an 11-try, 73–0 demolition of Wales.

Almost the last act of the Springboks’ year was Etzebeth scoring the final try, only to be sent off moments later by referee Luc Ramos. The 34-year-old’s red card for eye contact overshadowed an autumn that had been exceptional up to that point. He looks set to serve a lengthy ban as a result.

Fin Smith didn’t have a poor autumn by any means—he was steady, reliable, and never let England down. The issue for him is simply that others were spectacular. George Ford was in irresistible form, and Marcus Smith delivered an electric cameo against the All Blacks. Fin performed well whenever he played, but he didn’t quite offer the same game-breaking spark, and as a result he looks set to sit behind Ford and Marcus Smith heading into the Six Nations.

He should still be content with his outings, though; his defensive work in particular stood out, and a future move to inside centre might unlock even more from him.

Finn Russell had a mixed bag of an autumn, summed up perfectly by his roller-coaster performance against Argentina. For long stretches he was outstanding—his no-look pass that put Jack Dempsey over was pure class, and he fronted up defensively throughout the first half. But two risky long passes, the second of which was picked off and contributed to Blair Kinghorn’s yellow card, swung the momentum away from Scotland.

For around 50 minutes, Russell looked in full command; ultimately, though, a bit of overconfidence at key moments cost Scotland dearly.