Beauden Barrett breezes, Manu Tuilagi bulldozes: Rugby World Cup 2019 team of the week

Paul Radley picks out his best XV from the first week of the tournament in Japan

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  1 Joe Moody (New Zealand) The All Blacks scrum was rock solid in their opening day battle of the giants. Other than his work at scrum time, Moody also made the second most tackles of any New Zealander. AFP

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  2 Ray Niuia (Samoa) Entered the fray as a 32nd minute replacement against Russia, after the starting hooker suffered a head injury. He quickly helped settle Samoa, and set up a try with a deft no-look pass. Getty Images

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  3 Tadhg Furlong (Ireland) Ireland’s set piece was faultless in the hefty win over Scotland, and prop Furlong profited from their forward dominance with a third career try. AFP

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  4 Iain Henderson (Ireland) If Ireland were tense after their listless form leading in to the World Cup, Henderson immediately dissipated the feeling with a rampaging start against Scotland. AFP

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  5 James Ryan (Ireland) No Irishman made more tackles in the win over Scotland. Ryan made the most carries of anyone bar CJ Stander. The line-out was impeccable. And he scored a try. Not a bad day out. Getty Images

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  6 Tagir Gadzhiev (Russia) As a former MMA fighter, he might be used to having his nose broken. So playing the majority of his second game in four days with tissues stuffed up his nostrils, as he did against Samoa, was probably no problem. AFP

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  7 Justin Tipuric (Wales) Has the running and handling skills of a centre, yet plays in the back row. His all-round excellence in Wales’s convincing win over Georgia was laughably good at times. AP Photo

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  8 Manuel Diana (Uruguay) The No 8 will forever be remembered by his rugby playing compatriots for being a try-scorer in their stunning win over Fiji in Kamaishi. AFP

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  9 Gareth Davies (Wales) Better to be a lucky player than a good one. Happily for Wales, Davies was both against Georgia. He was lucky to avoid punishment for what might have been construed a deliberate knock-on, but was superb the rest of the time. AFP

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  10 Felipe Berchesi (Uruguay) Orchestrated the biggest shock of the Rugby World Cup so far as he landed 15 points with the boot to give Uruguay their 30-27 win over Fiji. Kyodo News via AP

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  11 Cheslin Kolbe (South Africa) An extraordinary display by the sevens convert against New Zealand saw him beat 11 defenders and run for 124 metres with ball in hand. No-one else got close to those numbers. Getty Images

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  12 Gael Fickou (France) Nearly sullied a fine performance when he gave away a late penalty that could have cost France victory against Argentina. As it was, they survived. AFP

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  13 Manu Tuilagi (England) Short of wearing boxing gloves, he could scarcely have been more up for the fight in the bruising win over Tonga. His two tries led the way in England’s win. Kyodo News via AP

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  14 Kotaro Matsushima (Japan) Ensured the host nation got their rugby carnival off to a winning start, and put himself in the running to be leading try-scorer in the tournament with a hat-trick against Russia. Reuters

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  15 Beauden Barrett (New Zealand) Slightly misleading to say he is out of position at fullback, as he has played plenty of Tests in the back three. Wherever he plays he is a different class, as shown against South Africa. AFP

Less than a week in to the Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan and we have already seen some standout performances.

Beauden Barrett oozed class as New Zealand saw off South Africa 23-13 in their opening match in Pool B while Manu Tuilagi showed he will be a major force to be reckoned with after bulldozing his way through the Tongan defence to claim two tries in England's 35-3 victory in Pool C.

Three Irishman make the best XV after tearing Scotland apart 27-3 in Pool A while Uruguay's Manuel Diana takes the No 8 jersey for his colossal effort in the win over Fiji.

Check out who else makes Paul Radley's team in the photo gallery above. To move on to the next position, click on the arrows on the photo, or if using a mobile device simply swipe.