LONG READ Seven stars set to light up the Autumn Nations Series

The clock is ticking. The big boys are landing in Europe, giant footprints scorching the earth, as the greatest players in the world are assembling for a month of high-octane, heart-in-mouth action as the Autumn Nations Series kicks off with a seismic England versus the All Blacks encounter.

Here are seven players, I think we’ll be hearing a lot more about in the months and years to come.

Cameron Hanekom – South Africa

Cameron Henekom may be a late inclusion to the Sprinboks squad, but that’s the only thing that is remotely lethargic when it comes to big Cameron. His selection means that Warren Gatland can finally scratch him off his wish/dream/national lottery list, and Mr Erasmus can add him to the quite frankly envy-inducing back-row forwards that he can choose from. In Elrigh Louw, Evan Roos and Hanekom, he has three players who can each dominate the Springboks No 8 shirt in the long term. Of those three, Hanekom is arguably the most non ‘Springboky’.. He’s less of a Duane Vermeulen and more of a Pierre Spies. His acceleration is remarkable for an eighth man and his ball-work in contact is immaculate. He has brilliant lateral movement, which means he’s always stepping around contact, hitting arms not shoulders, and getting his hands free for the offload. Of course, his playing time this autumn will be limited. Rassie hasn’t brought an experimental squad by any stretch of the imagination. Those experiments were conducted in The Rugby Championship. He’s picked a squad that will arguably do more damage to North Western Europe than the Vikings did. If Hanekom gets any minutes it’ll be behind Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi, Elrigh Louw, Kwagga Smith, Marco van Staden and Jasper W. And those minutes are likely to be at six rather than eight. Hanekom may have got his call-up due to the injury to Damian Willemse, but that doesn’t matter. He’s there now. Good luck, Mr H.

Sione Tuipulotu – Scotland

No longer a new name in Test rugby, but an important one. He’s currently unplayable – for both Scotland and Glasgow. A player who is mislabelled as a gainline centre, when he is in fact a gainline-first centre – there’s a difference. A gainline centre does only that. They carry hard, make the gainline and set up for rapid ruck speed. A gainline centre is essentially, a blindside wearing 12. That doesn’t describe Sione Tuipulotu at all. He’s gainline-first, but has a kicking and distribution game to match. He’s a genuine triple threat 12 (kick, pass, run). All the best 12s are and it’s why they are so rare and hard to defend. If you chase up, they pass or kick. If you back off, they run. And if they really fancy it, they can turn you into human yoghurt. Next year is Lions time and the key contenders for the 12 shirt are half-man, half-riot Bundee Aki and Sione T. Both would be immaculate choices at 12. Aki at 12 and Sione T at 13 may actually contravene international peace treaties and cause a major diplomatic incident in Australia. Also, as an aside, have a look at his brother’s highlights online if you have a sec. Mosese Tuipulotu now plays for Edinburgh and has been included in the Scotland squad. They’re four years apart in age, yet look like twins and have the same cadence and biomechanics when they run. Watch out world.

Eddie James – Wales

Just 12 months ago, Wales had a hotter problem with centres than McDonald’s do with their apple pie – you can smelt copper with six apple pies from that place. That is no longer the case. And the future of that position actually looks promising. With Max Llewellyn, Mason Grady, Keiron Williams, Joe Roberts, Macs Page, Aneurin Owen and of course Ben Thomas, Wales have solutions for the long-term future. One of which is Eddie James. He has the hands of a table tennis player and the backside and legs of a T-Rex. His ability to threaten the gainline, then dish a pass soft enough to feature on a dim-sum menu, is exactly what Wales require. As with all the newish names in this ‘crush list’, his game time will be limited. But come the Six Nations, he could become a genuine starting option.

Will Skelton – Australia

It’s always good to see Big Will Skelton back in Test rugby. He’s like the posh plates that your other brings out for Christmas. Well, it’s nearly Christmas and Joe Schmidt has brought out the massive serving dish. Like RG Snyman, Will Skelton is a beautiful rugby freak, and they are able to do things in the game that virtually no one else can. They can become one-man pod systems, level rucks with their hands, and give their props the sort of scrummaging stability that is usually only achieved by pouring concrete. But Skelton’s biggest attribute is by far his ‘weight in the carry’. Big men are hard to tackle one on one, giants are even harder to drop. Watching Skelton pour into defenders is like watching a natural disaster unfolding. The compound depletion of energy levels for defenders having to repeatedly tackle Skelton is underrated and it always begins to show in the final 20 minutes of a game. The Wallabies are in the early stages of a rebuild, and a solid scrum is key to being able to build possession and gel combinations in midfield. Skelton is key to that, and is arguably the most important player in that team. Also keep an eye on No. 8 Harry Wilson, he’s been fantastic over the past 12 months.

Immanuel Feyi-Waboso – England

Often in rugby, we laud the players who are playing well in teams that are also playing well. However, sometimes a more useful metric is to focus on the players who are doing well in a team that is struggling. That team is Exeter, and that player is Immanuel Feyi-Waboso. It’s weird seeing Exeter struggling as they are but it also makes Feyi-Waboso’s form even more remarkable. In the league, he’s joint-top for tries, third in metres carried, and eighth in defenders beaten – all accomplished in a team yet to register a win in their six opening games. He’s essentially scored 33% of their tries, on his own. With England, he’ll hopefully have a more stable platform in front of him and be able to push for the Lions tour next year. Which he has a very good chance of making. Good luck IFW.

Cormac Izuchukwu – Ireland

Uncapped as yet, but not for much longer. Izuchukwu represents the next generation of lock/six hybrids of which Thomas Ahern and Ryan Baird are also perfect examples. A new mould of rangy ball carriers, who may not appear to be overly hefty but still tip the scales at 18st 5lbs, whilst also touching the tape at 6ft 7ins tall. Izuchukwu’s work rate is remarkable and the effort he puts in over 80 minutes is higher than many of us put in a 40-hour week. Like many players of his ilk, the most underrated stat marker is attacking rucks hit. Against Cardiff, in the URC, he was top with 34. That stat alone is key to the new breed of lock/six hybrids who are big enough to play the game at Test level, but more importantly fit enough to do it for 80 minutes. With the great Peter O’Mahony coming into the late autumn of his career, a player like Cormac means that the gap left by POM won’t be too large, for too long.

Opeti Helu – Japan

Some will say that Opeti Helu is only included in this list because he scored a try against the All Blacks by skinning Damian Mackenzie like a 19^th century Canadian trapper. That finish was ridiculous. But don’t for one second think that the debutant Helu, nor any of the Japanese props who played against the All Blacks, were selected just for their work in the loose. The Japanese scrum was very stable against the All Blacks. Just two penalties from 16 scrums. Some of the Japanese scrums were level enough to iron a linen shirt atop. Helu and the rest of the Japanese pack delivered a very rapid series of three-second scrums, where the ball barely touched the grass, before it hit the scrum-half’s hands – but it worked. Japan may have suffered a heavy defeat against the ABs and Helu’s beautiful finish may have counted for little overall. But sometimes rugby is about appreciating the small things, and as small things go, it was gorgeous. Well played Opeti, can’t wait to see more of you this autumn.