Wow. Well that weekend really took off. Australia versus United States was one of the games of the year, after which Italy versus South Africa ran it close in the same stadium a day later. Meanwhile, Fiji and Spain were brilliant as they pushed Scotland and Ireland all the way.

England, France, and New Zealand kept their World Cup campaigns well oiled with wins over Samoa, Brazil, and Japan, while Pool A has been thrown wide open thanks to USA's draw with Australia.

England have already qualified but they need to be wary of defeat to Australia this coming Saturday, which would qualify Australia top of the pool and drop England to second. USA can still emerge from that pool though they need to win big against Samoa and hope England beat Australia well without letting them pick-up a bonus point - for either finishing within seven points or scoring four tries.

Now we’ve unfurled the red string and worked out all the possible permutations, let’s look at who set week two alight on the pitch...

Props

Babalwa Latsha (60pts) is top of the props. The South African was part of a front row that had 17 scrum put-ins against France, the most of any round this tournament so far. Latsha scored half of her points from that scrummaging performance but she also made ten carries, an astonishing amount for a prop. She will be leant on again next weekend in their huge battle against France.

Kelsey Clifford (57pts) scored a try and assisted two others in England’s dominant win over Samoa. She also assisted two line breaks, the second most among England players. She’s yet another entry into England’s silky-handed-when-passing-and-battering-ram-when-carrying front rows.

Hooker

Vittoria Vecchini (77pts) gets the nod at hooker. The Italian led all hookers in round two with 65 metres carried, and with 18 tackles made. And she was one of only two hookers to play all 80 minutes, the other being Kathryn Treder of the USA. Plus, Vecchini scored a try as well. It was a quieter round for hookers scoring tries; four tries were scored in round two compared to nine on the opening weekend.

Second row

Grace Moore (63pts) and Sophie De Goede (60pts) are locked into the second row. Moore played only six minutes on the opening weekend but she dominated when starting this weekend against. She scored two tries and made 17 tackles in Ireland’s hard fought victory over Spain.

De Goede is a fan favourite, 63% of you picked her for your teams and she’s delivered this week as well. She was perfect off the tee, nailing all six of her kicks. Her kicking is a not-so-secret weapon: her 25pts across the tournament are the third most.

Loose Forwards

Jorja Miller (119pts), Seraphine Okemba (110pts), and Freda Tafuna (71pts) complete the pack - a cosmopolitan group with eight different nationalities represented in the forwards this week. New Zealander Miller made it into the fantasy team of week one with 88pts, but she’s gone even further this week. She bagged two tries and has seven line breaks across the first two matches, the most among forwards. Her total points haul of 207pts leads the tournament.

Frenchwoman Okemba had a quiet opening round but she was pitch perfect on both sides of the ball against Brazil. She, Tafuna, and Miller topped forwards with two tries in round two but she led both with 21 tackles made. Tafuna was unstoppable with 17 carries (6th most) and seven dominant ones (4th most). She was a key reason why the US still have a chance of knockout rugby.

Scrum-Half

Pauline Bourdon Sansus (68pts) was missing from round one but she made up for lost time. The French superstar scored a try and assisted two others, and made a line break as well as assisting two others. She also gained 87m with ball in hand, the most for a scrum-half this round. A shoutout to one of the stars of this World Cup, Nadine Roos. The South African was in the fantasy team for week one and was second this time around, adding another try to the one she scored on the opening weekend.

Fly-Half

Helena Rowland (69pts) made her sixth World Cup appearance against Samoa and bolstered her case to be England’s starter going forward. Her 27pts are second only to six-try Canadian mega-star Julia Schell. Rowland also scored her own try and assisted another, plus helped assist two line-breaks as England piled on the points in their round two match-up.

Centres

Nassira Konde (108pts) and Stacey Waaka (83pts) complete our midfield. Konde was the creator extraordinaire against Brazil. She assisted four tries, the most by anyone in a single Rugby World Cup game this tournament. Just for good measure, she also scored her own and her 74m gained were third among centres. We cannot wait to watch more of Konde in this World Cup.

The Black Ferns have never lost a Rugby World Cup game that Waaka has featured in, and you can see why. She assisted five line breaks, a total that has been surpassed by only Caitlyn Halse (6) this tournament, even though Waaka featured in just the second-round match.

Outside Backs

Braxton Sorensen-McGee (145pts), Jess Breach (117pts), and Emilie Boulard (109pts) complete our dream team. We had four hattricks in round one (sadly we only count Schell’s six tries as one) that was cut to ‘just’ two in round two, scored by Sorensen-McGee and Breach. Kiwi Sorensen-McGee not only scored her three tries, she assisted one other, made five line breaks, and kicked four conversions.

Breach is closing in on Schell’s total; she now has five tries for the tournament. That’s level with Scotland’s Fran McGhie and Australia’s Desiree Miller. Breach also leads the tournament with eight line-breaks. Boulard missed the opening round for France but made an instant impression this past weekend with two tries, one try assist, and she also beat ten defenders - the highest of the round and the fourth highest of the tournament in round two.