Best on show in the third weekend of the 2026 Nations Championship and Nations Cup

The biggest performances of the final weekend of the Nations Championship and World Rugby Nations Cup before the international break.

Damian McKenzie (New Zealand)

You will have noticed a shift in mood around the All Blacks in the three tests since Dave Rennie took charge. It’s something McKenzie alluded to in his post-match comments after New Zealand’s impressive win over Ireland. “The way we’re playing, we’re able to express ourselves and play some free-flowing rugby, which is great.”

McKenzie seems to be thriving in a side who want to give the ball some air, blending well with the Hurricanes’ playmaking trio of Cam Roigard, Ruben Love and Jordie Barrett. McKenzie scored his 23rd test try – but the real highlight was his footwork as he beat eight Irish defenders. At his best, he just glides past would-be tacklers. And he was at his very best at the weekend.

Maxime Lamothe (France)

Lamothe, who plays his club rugby for French side Bordeaux-Bègles, is a serious, rampaging, ball-carrier and large human in the middle of France’s front row. Having started both of UBB’s back-to-back Champions Cup final victories, the 27-year-old made his France debut last November and started two of France’s three tests this month.

Against Japan he finished off an early maul and scored again later from close range, while also making good ground from his ball carries and helping a dominant French scrum. This all means that – beyond the excellent Toulouse combination of Peato Mauvaka and Julien Marchand – France have a quality third hooking option.

Josh Canham (Australia)

The more quality young players available to the Wallabies going into a home Men’s Rugby World Cup year the better – and it appears they have one in Canham, who scored a hat-trick in Australia’s convincing victory over Italy on Saturday.

Canham became the first second-row to bag three tries in one game in Wallabies’ history, and all of them came driving hard at the Italy line from less than five metres out – none of this modern nonsense of forwards his size galloping home from halfway.

“Josh Canham running the lineout, he’s still a kid in terms of test footy,” said the outgoing Australia head coach Joe Schmidt, and he’s right. This was only Canham’s fourth cap at the age of 25. It will be up to Schmidt’s successor Les Kiss to help Canham kick on and build on what at least appears to be high potential.

Paul de Villiers (South Africa)

The Nations Championship has been a good time to build depth for South Africa, with flanker De Villiers the pick of the new caps. After he was rushed in against England, the former South Africa U20 captain has gone from strength to strength, grabbing a first test try in the Springboks’ comprehensive victory over Wales in Durban.

Daan Human, South Africa’s scrum coach, and the Springbok pack as a whole deserve credit for that pushover try in the first half, particularly as Carlü Sadie and Ruben van Heerden were making their debuts.

But De Villiers was South Africa’s top carrier (18) by some distance, scored off a late maul and also bagged a couple of turnovers in another encouraging effort.

Jamie Dobie (Scotland)

Dobie is a coach’s dream given that he is good enough to start at test level at scrum-half or out on the wing. His second-half brace against Fiji, after coming on for George Horne in the 47th minute, helped turn around a game Scotland were in danger of wasting.

His dart next to the posts put Scotland into the lead for the first time after 60 minutes. And his arrival – along with the rest of the Scottish replacements – bailed them out. Gregor Townsend had, in fairness, swapped 14 of his side after the loss to South Africa. Josh Bayliss, it should be added, was also very good.

Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (England)

Some player. England, with Tommy Freeman’s aerial and finishing ability on one wing paired with Feyi-Waboso’s footwork and bursts of acceleration on the other, have quite the scoring threat out wide.

Feyi-Waboso could be forgiven for a couple of handling answers and missed high balls given how electric he was with ball in hand – his break set up Ben Earl’s first try before carving through to score what proved to be a pivotal try ahead of a contentious finish in Santiago del Estero. The Exeter wing finished up with three line-breaks and 14 defenders beaten. Argentina will be glad to see the back of him.

Paul Altier (Hong Kong China)

The first of a couple of match-winners from the World Rugby Nations Cup after Hong Kong China stunned Uruguay in Montevideo, with Altier holding his nerve to land the winning penalty from 45 metres with a couple of minutes left.

The Richmond winger, who previously attended Bath University before playing for Dijon and Chambéry in France, had already landed two penalties and three conversions against Los Teros – but this was the kick that mattered most. And Altier’s calm reaction to the one of the biggest penalties of his career, calmly picking up his tee before giving a small fist pump, was ice cold.

Alexandru Savin (Romania)

Around the 50-minute mark, Samoa were up 31-14 against Romania and feeling pretty good. What followed was a stirring comeback from the Oaks, in the midst of a tough year with only one win in 2026 over Belgium in February.

The loose-head prop – who coincidentally has also played for Chambéry, like Altier – came off the bench for the final half-hour and quickly helped finish off a maul to bring Romania back into the contest. His second score, a low drive with more than 82 minutes on the clock, sparked understandably huge celebrations, at the end of a remarkable 38-37 comeback victory.