Another captivating weekend of European rugby, led by the brilliance of Munster as they honoured one of their own, Anthony Foley. It is coming up to final squad announcement time for the Autumn Internationals and here is my pick of players who had notable performances.

GOING UP

Mako Vunipola
Joe Marler’s tweet summed up Mako’s performance against the Scarlets at the weekend:

???? @Mako_Vunipola – are you taking the p**s?! Any danger of giving the rest of us a chance?! ???????????? https://t.co/67Qy298OsK

— Joe Marler (@JoeMarler) October 24, 2016

Mako carried with real physicality as he crossed the gain-line repeatedly; but you know you are going to get that from him. What is most exciting is how he has improved all the other aspects of his game, particularly his scrummaging and breakdown work. His show-and-go to score at the weekend was as brilliant as it was surprising for a prop. He is fast becoming the complete loose-head and when your nearest rival for the England shirt tweets you that, you know you are in a special run of form.

Peter O’Mahony
O’Mahony could have been forgiven for allowing the emotion of the game against Glasgow to get the better of him, however the Munster captain stood tall and dominated the game. Only recently back from injury, O’Mahony was back to his best – massive in defence and a nuisance at the breakdown. They played the majority of the match with 14 men after Keith Earls tip tackle, but O’Mahony was the rallying point, with the Munster pack as a collective raising their game. The Irish back row is looking particularly congested these days, but when O’Mahony is at his best, he can’t be left out.

Simon Zebo
The second Munster-man to further his cause, Zebo was a livewire from the back and scored Munster’s third try of the match with a mix of pace and deceptive strength as he wormed his way out of a tackle to cross the line. Zebo certainly looks more comfortable recently in the 15 shirt than he does on the wing, where he has usually operated for Ireland, and given Rob Kearney’s struggle for top form, now might be Zebo’s opportunity to get an extended run there.

Joe Launchbury
With the sad news that Maro Itoje will now join George Kruis on the injured list, Joe Launchbury looks a shoo-in to start for England. He had a tidy, rather than brilliant, game against Toulouse – but demonstrated some excellent defence and disrupted the fearsome Toulouse maul well. Paul O’Connell recently name-checked him as one of his starting Lions locks and thanks to other players’ misfortune, Launchbury has the opportunity to make himself indispensable for England again. One note on his captaincy, however: the bad decisions by two members of his team (see below) must come back to him at least in part.

GOING DOWN

Dylan Hartley
After six weeks out, Dylan Hartley made his return for Northampton in their drubbing by Castres as the weekend. He looked well short of test-match form as his side ended up on the wrong side of a 41-7 scoreline and he was replaced on the 46 minute mark. The blame does not rest solely on the hooker’s shoulders, the Northampton pack as a whole was ineffective and outgunned. However, Hartley’s form is a serious concern given the upcoming Autumn Internationals.

Eddie Jones already faces an uphill battle given his first choice locks and a key member of his backrow (plus about 5 replacement options) are already ruled out, now he has to decide what to do about his captain. Logic would say, given the number of forced changes, he will stick with Hartley for some much needed continuity. Particularly given the lack of alternative options for the captaincy. However, I would argue the opposite. The pack has already been so significantly weakened, Jones cannot afford to have a player so short of top form in the side – especially given Jamie George is playing stunningly well for Saracens right now. My view would be, let Hartley get back to his best with Saints, stick George in the starting line-up and chuck the captain’s armband to Owen Farrell.

Danny Cipriani/Nathan Hughes
Cipriani has been doing all he can to work his way back into the England set up, only to be repeatedly ignored. I have questioned Jones’ decision alongside everyone else; however, Cipriani showed just why he may stay in the international wilderness – the architect of that astonishing try against Saints not long ago, he tried a similar chip and chase from his own line against Toulouse. Alas it was charged down and ended with Census Johnston scoring a try. Similarly, Nathan Hughes demonstrated some poor decision making as he tapped and went rather than allowing a penalty kick at goal.

Wasps (through Hughes) still produced a great last minute score to tie the game, but the conceded try and opportunity to kick a penalty may have meant they were celebrating a win instead. Decision making at the top level is one of the hardest things to coach and Jones may feel there is just too much risk with these guys. Hughes may get a reprieve given the lack of options in the back row, but he will have to play a bit smarter.