Great game: Jonny May
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 6.
Some cracking games thrilled spectators over the weekend as Connacht and Gloucester started things off before Bath, Leinster, Leicester Tigers, Munster, Clermont and Castres also won. Sunday ended with key results going the way of Biarritz, Saracens, Edinburgh and Cardiff Blues as the last-eight was confirmed. Ties will be played over the weekend of 5, 6 and 7 April. We can't wait.
So without further ado, here comes our offering - be sure to send in your own 15-1 team line-ups.
Team of Round 6
15 Jonny May (Gloucester) - Arguably a hard call on Leinster full-back Rob Kearney and Cardiff Blues equivalent Leigh Halfpenny, with the duo contributing greatly to their side's victories over the weekend. But for his two-try effort that stunned Toulouse, May is our man.
14 Takudzwa Ngwenya (Biarritz) - Charlie Sharples impressed again at a good time for him personally with the Six Nations fast approaching. Meanwhile, Sitiveni Sivivatu was back to his best as he glided past defenders. However, how can we ignore a hat-trick from the Eagle himself? Ngwenya was electric as Biarritz found their Heineken Cup form - at last.
13 Matt Scott (Edinburgh) - Aurélien Rougerie cut Ulster to pieces in combination with right wing Sivivatu early on at Stade Marcel Michelen while Keith Earls was also good in patches for Munster. But we go for Scott, who was shifted out one spot before kick-off and went on to have one of his better games, almost scoring from the impressive Greig Laidlaw's fine chip.
12 Fabrice Estebanez (Racing-Metro) - Man-of-the-match in their loss in Cardiff, Estebanez sent a message to France head coach Philippe Saint-André that he should not be forgotten. Maxime Mermoz, Aurélien Rougerie, Yann David and Wesley Fofana must stay on their toes.
11 Simon Zebo (Munster) - Aforementioned centre Scott starred alongside soon-to-be Scotland international Tim Visser at Murrayfield, who is going to be key for Edinburgh when they face Toulouse in April. But three scintillating tries meant it was always going to be Zebo.
10 Ronan O'Gara (Munster) - From one new Munster star to their oldest. At 34, O'Gara yet again rolled back the years as he kicked and directed Munster to the knockouts as top seeds. It was high fives all round when ROG was withdrawn late on as his love for the Heineken Cup continues to go both ways. A mention for Connacht fly-half Niall O'Connor.
9 Dimitri Yachvili (Biarritz) - They truly are a different team when he is on the field aren't they? Yachvili was at his mercurial best, directing traffic and kicking for fun as they made the Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-finals. Morgan Parra and Lloyd Williams deserve mentions.
8 Robert Barbieri (Treviso) - The toughest of our weekend calls came at eight as Netani Talei, Ben Skirving and Chris Masoe all put in man-of-the-match performances for their sides. Add to that James Coughlin's effort and we had a nice headache that was soon eased by Barbieri's showing against Sarries. A top shift against the English champions.
7 Thierry Dusautoir (Toulouse) - Let us get the mentions out of the way first. Solid efforts from Peter O'Mahony, Gerhard Vosloo and as per usual, Sam Warburton, kept our selection cogs turning. But for being the best of a surprisingly bad bunch, Dusautoir sneaks in.
6 John Muldoon (Connacht) -Tom Croft was man-of-the-match for Leicester against Aironi and, despite the opposition, sent out a message to Stuart Lancaster that he should not be overlooked for their Six Nations opener. Yet there was a certain blindside flanker at the Sportsground who stood head and shoulders above the rest on Friday as Connacht brought to an end their dismal run of fourteen successive defeats. Take a bow John Muldoon.
5 Mouritz Botha (Saracens) - A try from the EPS member comes at just the right time as he begins his training battle with Tom Palmer, Courtney Lawes, Dave Attwood and the currently injured Louis Deacon. On form, Stuart Lancaster would be hard pressed to ignore this lock.
4 Paul O'Connell (Munster) - The stand-in Ireland captain can be delighted with his recent form as he carried superbly for the Munster cause. It just remains to be seen who will be partnering him in green as Donnacha Ryan and Donncha O'Callaghan continue to battle.
3 John Afoa (Ulster) - The majority wouldn't have expected to an Osprey in the mix this week following their 36-5 loss to Biarritz, yet Adam Jones came extremely close after a strong performance. However, Afoa continued his good form in an Ulster jersey around the park and was unlucky to be on a losing side. Brian Mujati also deserves a big tip of the cap.
2 Ti'i Paulo (Clermont) - We were scratching our heads wondering why he was not starting for les Jaunards against the powerful scrummaging outfit that is Ulster. But on 52 minutes he got onto the field and duly crossed for what turned out being the deciding seven-pointer.
1 Soane Tonga'uiha (Northampton) - It was a toss-up between the impact Vincent Debaty of Clermont made from the bench when he came on and the frightening impact Tonga'uiha made at scrum time. The Tongan conjured up two penalty tries for Northampton. Immense.
Comments
crunchfit says...
Cian Healy was better than Tonga'uiha by a mile in my opinion. Only issue I'd have. He was solid in the scrums (it was his partners who weren't so stable) and he was devastating in the loose. Can't remember Tonga'uiha doing much in the loose and he was just scrummaging illegally as usual.
Posted 12:52 23rd January 2012