England wing Charlie Sharples staked his claim for Chris Ashton's no.14 shirt with two tries against Fiji.

But who else from the opening autumn internationals won a place in Oval Talk's Team of the Weekend?

International results (click on links for reports):

England 54 - 12 Fiji

Ireland 12 - 16 South Africa

Scotland 22 - 51 New Zealand

Wales 12 - 26 Argentina

France 33 - 6 Australia

Italy 28 - 23 Tonga

Romania 23 - 34 Japan

Canada 12 - 42 Samoa

Team of the Weekend

1 Joe Marler (England)

The set piece was never going to be Fiji's strong point and Marler's strong scrummaging exploited that

It has been two years since the pride of Southern Hemisphere rugby descended on the British Isles for a crack at its Northern Hemisphere rivals in the Autumn Internationals.

With the small matter of a World Cup last year, fans of the home nations were forced to reconfigure their body clocks to catch their teams battling it out on the other side of the globe in New Zealand; leaving the normally rugby-filled weekends of November void of all things oval-shaped.

However, normal service will soon be resumed. Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Argentina, South Africa, Australia and reigning world champions New

The news that RFU chiefs are open to consideration for the sale of naming rights to Twickenham is good news, if it's done in the correct way.

From a traditionalist point of view the lumping of a paying sponsor's name into the title of a historic sporting venue can upset the majority of fans (just ask Newcastle United supporters), but the truth of the matter is that the way professional sport is now run necessitates such commercial ventures.

With high upkeep costs for stadiums and pay rolls to be dealt with, as unappealing as it may be the sale of naming rights to a ground can provide a

No player wants to forgo the opportunity of playing for their country, but for some it is the cost of furthering their career when they opt to play outside the country they have represented internationally. For some it even seems to enhance their development...

Steffon Armitage is currently in such a situation. Playing for Toulon and forsaking the chance to turn out for England, the former London Irish player is enjoying the form of his life in France and is posing some serious questions to England head coach Stuart Lancaster and his staff as to whether they should break protocol and attempt

Saracens' recent request to play Heineken Cup fixtures outside Europe is surely a sign of things to come, even if their opponents Edinburgh politely declined.

Whether or not you're a fan of Sarries' chief executive Ed Griffiths (OT took a shine to him when he accused the RFU of running the English game like "a rural prep school" but that's another story), he deserves kudos for trying new avenues to develop the game. Not everything will work - but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Last season Saracens and Biarritz agreed to play in South Africa, but politics killed off the scheme. But the

The release this Monday morning of the shortlist of potential venues for the Rugby World Cup in 2015 has sent the rugby sphere into fevered debate.

The omission of Leicester Tigers' Welford Road ground from the 17-strong roll leaves Gloucester's Kingsholm as the only traditional club rugby venue to be included.

Twickenham is on there, with Leicester City FC's ground preferred to the iconic Welford Road by organisers England Rugby 2015 (ER 2015) and five Premier League football stadia also named despite continued uncertainty about their availability due to potential clashes with the start of

This week there were two pieces of contrasting news relating to British players based (well, one soon to be) in France.

These served as notice of the potential positives and pitfalls of the opportunities afforded to professionals and how they are accepted, embraced and maximised.

On the one hand there was Olly Barkley, who played his last game for Bath, a club with whom he has been associated since his teens and throughout his career - save for a solitary season at Gloucester - and who is now set to embark on an adventure with Racing Metro.

On the other there was Mike Phillips, who was so

New Zealand's Richie McCaw

Richie McCaw's decision to take a sabbatical from rugby is a refreshing display of forward-thinking from one of the modern game's greats.

On hearing the news, it might be easy to start wondering if it's the beginning of the end of one of the most accomplished, decorated and admired careers of recent years.

However  the time out could enable rugby fans to see the 31-year-old remain at the top of his game for much longer than would have been possible without such a respite.

European fans will get the chance to see one of the best-ever openside flankers in action just before he commences his