In: Owen Farrell & Justin Tipuric
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Now that the dust has settled across Europe, Planet Rugby thought it was only right to hand out some praise to the stars of Heineken Cup, Round 5.
Without further ado, here comes our offering - be sure to send in your own 15-1 team selections.
Team of Round 5
15 Leigh Halfpenny (Cardiff Blues) - Still one of the first onto the plane for the British & Irish Lions, Halfpenny was a positive force on a tough day for the Blues in Toulon. A brace from the Wales full-back added some gloss to the scoreline.
14 Ugo Monye (Harlequins) - Snubbed by England and finding himself £10,000 short during last week due to a banking theft on his account, Monye turned his fortunes around with a great performance on his 200th game for Quins.
13 Benoit Baby (Biarritz) - One try and two assists for the former France centre lands him a spot after Biarritz's bonus-point win over Zebre, with Baby making plenty of metres in the process.
12 Wesley Fofana (Clermont) - Hitting a purple patch ahead of the Six Nations, Fofana was magnificent against Exeter - with over 100 metres made and finishing off an excellent team try.
11 Eli Walker (Ospreys) - The young Wales winger continued to impress with another fine showing, this time against Leicester Tigers. His clever footwork and searing pace led to the equalising try from Jonathan Spratt with time running out.
10 Owen Farrell (Saracens) - A real statement from the incumbent England fly-half. Perfect with the boot landing 11/11 kicks, Farrell might not be as expressive as Freddie Burns but his accuracy with the boot is crucial. Great composure.
9 Kahn Fotuali'i (Ospreys) - With Will Genia returning from injury, there is no better scrum-half around than Fotuali'i. Another commanding performance for the Osprey earned him the Man of the Match award. He will be highly sought after in the coming months.
8 Joe Bearman (Ospreys) - We found it difficult to leave out returning Scotland squad member Johnnie Beattie and also the immense Nick Williams. But there was a former Dragons forward playing an exceptional brand of rugby in Swansea. In went Bearman.
7 Justin Tipuric (Ospreys) - Rob Howley would be a brave coach to select Sam Warburton over Tipuric for their Six Nations opener against Ireland. The Osprey's step to go past Jordan Crane was superb while he mixed power with skills throughout against the Tigers.
6 Peter O'Mahony (Munster) - Was outstanding against Edinburgh. Nineteen carries in all from the youngster whose stock continues to rocket in Ireland while Stephen Ferris is out.
5 Courtney Lawes (Northampton) - The Lions hopeful had been criticised in recent weeks for, among other things, for being too upright in contact. But Lawes silenced a great deal of his critics against a resilient Castres forward pack on Friday in an all-action display.
4 Patricio Albacete (Toulouse) - The French giants had a tight and physical game-plan early on against Treviso and Albacete was key to it. The evergreen Puma second-row's try following hooker Gary Botha's effort after six minutes at Ernest Wallon laid the platform.
3 Matt Stevens (Saracens) - Stevens was in excellent form against Racing on Saturday as he continues his impressive performances after announcing he'd retired from international rugby. Solid in the set-piece and busy in broken play, Stevens gets in as our tighthead.
2 Jean Charles Orioli (Toulon) - Without Sebastien Bruno not playing, Saturday brought a big chance for Orioli and one which he took. Apparently John Smit is on his way to the club next term so Orioli will have another veteran to compete with. This week though he's No.1.
1 Cian Healy (Leinster) - In our eyes the Lions loosehead shirt has Healy's name all over it. He was a carrying machine against the Scarlets and edges Ulster's Tom Court to our final jersey. The fact he only played 40 minutes makes you wonder what he could've done in 80.
By Ben Coles and Adam Kyriacou
@bencoles_ and @PlanetRugbyAK
Comments
ruck_man7 says...
@eddieC - amassing 32 points in a game is no easy feat. He showed composure and maturity in an away game in a hostile atmosphere! He is great defensively as well.
Posted 19:28 18th January 2013
lawynd says...
Can't argue with the last part in the slightest! =)
Posted 18:30 15th January 2013
makemehappy says...
@Lawynd - personally I think that 3 of the front 5 of those two teams aren't international standard (though Bevington isn't too far off), so that isn't surprising. I agree that we could look at many ways to beat Australia, but personally I'd just like to see Jones and Sheridan make them cry and then have Cole and Jenkins (some would prefer Healy) rub their noses in it. May the best men get the Lions positions, and give the Aussies a good kickin!
Posted 17:07 15th January 2013
curates_egg says...
Dear editor, your point about players not being selected because of their team's performance makes sense in theory...however it only holds for one or two picks. When you pick 4 players from a team that drew at home, it is a different matter. If they were all so good (and made up 30% of their team), why could their team not even win at home?
Walker's curate's egg of a performance - has been discussed by others. Fitzgerald was excellent on his man of the match return from injury. Beattie and Williams delivered performance at least on a par with Bearman (and clearly more influential in Williams' case). You can have the other two.
Posted 16:09 15th January 2013
lawynd says...
@makemehappy - I do get what you're saying. Happy to agree to disagree on who is the better scrummager (although I might add one final rejoinder regarding which tight five had the upper hand at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday), but what I'm saying is that, as demonstrated amply by Wales, simply beasting Australia up front is no longer a sure-fire means to winning against them. Cole's added versatility around the park should thus ensure his status as first choice, notwithstanding changes in form and injuries over the next few months of course.
Now, onto loosehead! ;)
Posted 14:52 15th January 2013
pierredelot1 says...
Funny that the argument about Jones against Cole goes on but this is a generation thing and they'll both go, probably with Jones starting. Everybody glows about Healey but I've never seen him get an inch over the two above. Great in the open but often lucky in the set. So we'll see on that one. Farrell for Lions maybe in the squad but as a starter I doubt it. But you can't deny his steady temperament under fire an asset he has over all of them.Albecetes return to the ranks was no suprise, when he plays well, Toulouse play well and he's just getting back into some form.
Posted 14:43 15th January 2013
makemehappy says...
@lawynd - you haven't read my comments properly. I haven't commented on the best all round prop. Just scrummaging. Adam was actually injured a fair bit last year, so not surprising the didn't get short listed anyway.
Your comments about Wales losing the games have been addressed by me already, so please re-read. The scrum is one part of the game.
I do agree that both are 1 and 2 for the Lions.
Posted 13:17 15th January 2013
EddieC says...
Farrell the best fly half......you have got to be taking the micky! He is just about as usefull as O'Gara on a bad day. Yes he can kick a ball, he's no play maker, and he certainetly no defender! I hope the Lion's selectors don't ever read any of your articles!
Posted 12:46 15th January 2013
papachinzo says...
"Players aren't selected because of their team's performance"
LOL - Childish I know...
Posted 12:45 15th January 2013
lawynd says...
@makemehappy - my point was that even though Jones and Co. scrummaged the Aussies off the park, they still beat Wales. Four times. Cole played in teams that beat Australia twice in 2010, at Twickenham and in Sydney, and I again reiterate the point about the front row that faced Australia in the autumn tests last year.
As for only the English thinking Dan Cole is better than Jones, PR placed him second to only Census Johnston in their team of 2012 and the reader's team too; Adam Jones wasn't even mentioned as a contender in either team.
Posted 10:20 15th January 2013
makemehappy says...
@lawynd - the first half of your post really adds nothing to Cole's case. Wales did lose the games but were vastly superior in the scrum (I presume you watched the games) He is better in the loose, but few would choose him above Adam outside of England, for his scrummaging ability.
Posted 08:18 15th January 2013
lawynd says...
@makemehappy - as opposed to Jones, playing for a Welsh team turned over by Australia four times out of four? At least Cole can point to playing alongside Marler and Youngs in that game, who were beaten by smarter and more experienced opposite numbers in the Wallaby pack. Cole edges Jones at scrum time (he's keeping Castrogiovanni on the bench at Leicester!) and offers far, far more in every other facet of play; he's an extra fetcher at rucks and a useful close-in carrying option. Jones barely does either of those.
They'll both be on the plane of course, barring injury.
Posted 21:57 14th January 2013
TVaddict says...
Well I didn't see all the games but from what I saw this is a great selection. Good job PR!
Posted 19:43 14th January 2013
NHsaints says...
I don't quite agree with the bearman selection over Williams or O'Mahoney over Clark (although I'm pretty biased) as I think Williams has been in fantastic form of late and Clark had a very productive game against Castres although he didn't carry as many times as O'Mahoney he was immense at the breakdown, in the tackle, with his (few) carries and in the lineout and Loose (it was his charge down and later turnover that took all the momentum out of Castres' game in the second half).
Posted 19:01 14th January 2013
TheSkutch says...
Lukey Fitz being left out here is a farce. Just back from injury and had a massive performance, scoring a try and winning a MOM. I agree that its not down to the team winning that gets you into the list but Eli Walker while his try was brilliant showed far too many defensive frailties.
Posted 18:27 14th January 2013
makemehappy says...
Whilst it is to early to pick a Lions team, I have to agree with roddyo that you want Adam there to scrummage the Aussies off the park. He always does and no reason he shouldn't do so again. Cole on the other hand certainly didn't do much in the last game against the Aussies. Stick with what you know - a Lions prop, and a good Lions prop in Jones.
The Opreys did play well and were unlucky not to win on the weekend. Many of their team were inexperienced, some playing out of position, so it really was a pretty good performance. Halfpenny did look a class act too - he usually does and at the moment is clear number 1 for the 15 shirt with the Lions.
Posted 18:13 14th January 2013
olearyc5 says...
Travesty that Lukey Fitz wasn't mentioned, although @curates_egg, I didn't think Kearney was as good as he could be, some shocking passes to Nacewa. Mike Brown had a cracker for Harlequins though
Posted 17:47 14th January 2013
heathy says...
roddyo - I'm a bit confused as to what the link is with your statement. Tipuric plays in the backrow as opposed to Adam Jones who is a prop. Technically they can both go on tour and be in the Lions side. However, as has been mentioned, this is quite a long way away and at this rate there won't be many Welsh players going. This was a Heineken Cup game and nobody has said anything about who is or is not going on the Lions Tour. #confused.com
Posted 16:54 14th January 2013
DrDeath says...
Honorable mention for Connaught's Tiernan O' Halloran who didn't get on the score sheet but had a cracking 80 mins at the Stoop! I agree Monye played well but I think O'Halloran got through a lot more effective work!
Posted 16:26 14th January 2013
yelloj321 says...
Eh....Walker was responsible for Morris' try...
Should be Fitz @ 11
Posted 15:43 14th January 2013