15: Jason Robinson (Eng) 14: Shane Williams (Wal) 13: Tony Marsh (Fra) 12: Mike Catt (Eng) 11: Christophe Dominici (Fra) 10: Carlos Spencer (Nzl) 9: Fabien Galthie (Fra) 1: Jean-Jacques Crenca (Fra) 2: Keven Mealamu (Nzl) 3: Sylvain Marconnet (Fra) 4: Fabien Pelous (Fra) 5: Chris Jack (Nzl) 6: Serge Betsen (Fra) 7: Olivier Magne (Fra) 8: Imanol Harinordoquy (Fra) Pick your own World Cup XV

Last weekend some 150 players were in action during the tournament as they battled to keep their Cup bids alive.

Not one Australian makes our line-up, which is predominantly made up of Frenchmen, with some Welsh players, the odd All Black and two Englishmen.

15. Jason Robinson
Full-back, England

Robinson had been fairly innocuous for England on the wing in his appearances in the pool stages but he came to life after being given the freedom of the full-back role.

Strong under the high ball and always primed to scuttle forward at pace, his weaving runs were rewarded in some style in the 43rd minute.

Receiving a pass from Ben Cohen on his 10-metre line, he darted through half a dozen Welsh tacklers before paving the way for Will Greenwood to score.

14. Shane Williams
Right wing, Wales

The majority of northern hemisphere rugby fans will be looking forward to seeing Shane Williams in action in the Six Nations.

Every time he got the ball against England he looked capable of creating a little bit of Welsh magic.

That duly followed as one of his breaks paved the way for a Welsh score.

13. Tony Marsh
Outside centre, France

Marsh's battle against cancer has been well documented but it is worth repeating that he has only recently returned from chemotherapy treatment to represent France down under.

And he has hardly been there for the sympathy vote.

The New Zealand-born centre has been in supreme form, continually paving the way for attack after attack from the players around him.

12. Mike Catt
Inside centre, England

A few months ago he was getting ready for the start of the season with Bath. Now he looks England's most potent game-breaker.

Brought on to replace the dire Dan Luger at half-time, he kicked beautifully, ran incisively, passed with vision and took the pressure off Jonny Wilkinson.

Such was the stature of his performance, he has given coach Clive Woodward an almighty selection headache.

11. Christophe Dominici
Left wing, France

Dominici has been in electric form throughout the tournament so far, adding the required pace time and again to pick holes in opposition defences.

Once again at the weekend he ran rings around his opponents, Ireland, resulting in a try on the half-hour mark.

He happily darts from left to right wing with equal aplomb and his continuing high standards for the remainder of the tournament will be vital to France's further try-scoring ambitions.

10. Carlos Spencer
Fly-half, New Zealand

Spencer has the occasional howler for the All Blacks but that is always quickly forgotten with his other moments of magic throughout the full 80 minutes of a game.

Once again against South Africa he was his side's orchestrator and capped it all with a pass through the legs to send Joe Rokocoko through.

He may have lost out on goal-kicking duties, but his booting out of hand has been legendary, not to mention his distribution and his searing runs.

9. Fabien Galthie
Scrum-half, France

No scrum-half has really shone as an out-and-out world-class talent but, of any of them, Galthie has been the leading protagonist.

New Zealand's Justin Marshall enjoyed a superb game against South Africa, while the remaining big names failed to live up to their big reputations.

That said, Galthie captained France to four impressive pool wins and Le Petit General was again in commanding form against Ireland.

1. Jean-Jacques Crenca
Loose-head prop, France

More and more props manage to get around all areas of the field and Crenca is no exception.

He has come a long way from the argumentative and aggressive player who was once threatened with the axe from the French squad for his dire behaviour.

But the part-time electrician now just gets on with the job in hand - scrummaging superbly as well as being versatile in the loose.

2. Keven Mealamu
Hooker, New Zealand

One of the images of the weekend was that of Mealamu storming over the South African try line, with a handful of Springboks trying to fell the mighty hooker.

The All Blacks number two was in scintillating shape in the game, his origins as a flanker showing as he repeatedly scooped up the ball in open play and drove forward.

He also proves a reliable force in the set pieces, regularly pinging the ball to his line-out jumpers with pin-point precision.

3. Syvlain Marconnet
Tight-head prop, France

Marconnet arrived at the World Cup nursing a thigh injury, which caused him to miss the opener against Fiji.

But despite some good form by Jean-Baptiste Poux, his replacement, he won his place back and has been at his imperious best ever since.

The normally reliable Irish front row were put under immense pressure by Marconnet and his fellow front-rowers at the weekend and, as a result, knocked the sting out of them more rapidly than many had anticipated.

4. Fabien Pelous
Lock, France

Pelous' impact for France should not be contained to simply his own performance on the field but that of the forwards around him.

An experienced line-out jumper, he has rarely put a foot wrong and, as the leader of the French pack, has superbly marshalled the players around him.

His impact has regularly left captain Fabien Galthie free to focus solely on the backs.

5. Chris Jack
Lock, New Zealand

Jack had looked under pressure to win his place back in the All Blacks starting line-up when an ankle injury ruled him out of contention and replacement Brad Thorn had a sensational run of performances.

But coach John Mitchell stuck with his first-choice lock and his loyalty was duly rewarded in the win over South Africa.

He was a terrier from the outset of the opening game as he flushed the ball away from the South African forwards in the set pieces and the loose alike.

6. Serge Betsen
Blind-side flanker, France

After last weekend there is no doubting where Cameroon-born Serge Betsen's heart lies as the tears rolled down his cheek while singing La Marseillaise - France's national anthem.

And that passion was felt in every aspect of his game as he continually pounced on Irish fly-half Ronan O'Gara.

He also did his usual task of diving onto every loose ball.

7. Olivier Magne
Open-side flanker, France

Magne may have only captained France on one occasion but he is among the French leaders in every game.

He may not quite have the pace of some of the game's younger flankers now but his understanding with both Betsen and Harinordoquy is second to none in the global game.

To date he has marginally been in the shadows behind his fellow back-row team-mates but looks on course to remain a massive addition to the Gallic bid at this World Cup.

8. Imanol Harinordoquy
Number eight, France

England boss Clive Woodward would have cast a worried eye over the French back-row at the weekend as the trio were truly prolific.

And Harinordoquy was the pick of the bunch, showing England's Lawrence Dallaglio just how the job should be done from the base of the scrum