On fire in France: Delon Armitage
Now that the dust has settled in Europe, it's time to dish out the kudos for outstanding performances in Round One of the Heineken Cup.
Saracens, Harlequins and Toulouse were the big winners of the opening weekend.
Sarries went on the rampage in the Scottish capital, while the champions of England put themselves in pole position in Pool Three thanks to a storming second half against Biarritz.
Toulouse took the lead in the 'Pool of Death' with a performance - especially at scrum time - that will have been noted across the competition.
Meanwhile, Toulon's army of stars confirmed they are the real deal.
Team of Round One:
15 Delon Armitage (Toulon): Both Armitage brothers were in fine form for RCT and Delon makes our team thanks to his two tries against Montpellier. Mentions too for Alex Goode , who touched down for Saracens and Jared Payne who gained 117 metres for Ulster with ball in hand.
14 Alex Cuthbert (Cardiff Blues): It's never fun when you score a hat-trick and your team still loses! Northampton's Ken Pisi deserves a mention as does Sitiveni Sivivatu , who scored for Clermont.
13 George Pisi (Northampton): The Pisi brothers are proving to be a real threat for Northampton. George bagged two tries with another scorching performance. Jonathan Davies did well for Scarlets while Waisea Nayacalevu scored twice for Stade Français in the Amlin Challenge Cup.
12 Gael Fickou (Toulouse): Another fantastic talent rolls off the Toulouse academy production line. The 18-year-old's try in his European debut against Leicester was out of the top drawer. Guy Novès doesn't need to look much further for a replacement for the ageing Yannick Jauzion. Wesley Fofana was dangerous as ever for Clermont with over 100 metres gained.
11 Eli Walker (Ospreys): A tough call because there were plenty of good wings but Walker's solo try against Treviso will long be remembered. Simon Zebo must have thought he'd scored the winner for Munster in Paris but the Fat Lady was yet to sing.
10 Charlie Hodgson (Saracens): Another difficult decision with a handful of candidates. The veteran pivot scored a try amongst his 25 points and didn't miss a tackle. Luke McAlister, Danny Cipriani and Ben Botica all made headlines.
9 Paul Marshall (Ulster): Danny Care is unlucky to miss out after an outstanding display for Quins but Marshall edges it thanks to his double against Castres.
8 Nick Easter (Harlequins): This one nearly caused a fight at Planet Rugby HQ and Ed is still sulking because Louis Picamoles was outvoted but Easter's man-of-the-match performance cannot be ignored.
7 Shane Jennings (Leinster): It was a tough day at the office for the defending champions, as illustrated by the 16 tackles made by their openside flank. A mention too for Steffon Armitage and Chris Robshaw.
6 Julien Bonnaire (Clermont): Another veteran still putting in the hard yards...and the big hits. A try was his reward. Keep an eye on Toulon's 22-year-old flank Pierrick Gunther, who is a star in the making.
5 Samu Manoa (Northampton): The big American wore 4 on his back but we can't leave him out after he carried the ball for 84 metres, beating four defenders along the way. Exeter Chiefs nearly caused the upset of the year and skipper Tom Hayes was in the thick of the action. Johan Muller was a tower of strength for Ulster.
4 Steve Borthwick (Saracens): There's life in the old dog yet! The flash boys got the headlines for their tries but the Sarries captain led the tackle count in Edinburgh with 14 hits. Bakkies Botha was so good for Toulon that France coach Philippe Saint-André said he wished he could pick the South African enforcer for les Bleus!
3 Census Johnston (Toulouse): The Tigers scrum was under the cosh in wet conditions in Toulouse and the fiery Samoan was the root cause of the trouble. John Afoa put in another big game for Ulster while former a certain Carl Hayman was fit enough to make 16 tackles for Toulon. Davit Zirakashvili helped Clermont win a penalty try.
2 Richard Hibbard (Ospreys): The Ospreys dominated a very strong Treviso scrum and Hibbard made a impact on defence with 10 hits. Rob Buchanan's try for Quins changed the complexion of the encounter against Biarritz.
1 Thomas Domingo (Clermont): Getting back to his best form, Domingo caught the eye with his energy around the park. Saracens prop Mako Vumipola also had very strong game. Honourable mention too for Racing's Andrea Lo Cicero.
Comments
5Lock4ward says...
MANOA! Hoping to see him in an Eagles jersey come November.
Posted 01:39 16th October 2012
Dannyboy says...
Why would the Irish complain? We had a good weekend.
1. Ireland 3 out of 4 wins = 75%
2. England 4 out of 6 wins = 67 %
3. France 4 out of 7 wins = 57%
And in all fairness, as far as complaining and sulking goes, threatening to quit the Heineken cup can't really be matched.
Start acting like men and not little boys, you're embarrassing yourselves.
Posted 01:36 16th October 2012
Waz4before says...
well said @ munster30 ... up until that last comment on sour grapes - it doesn't exist in the sensibly minded Rugby follower at least .. only admiration and a determination to try and stop the Irish dominance (which has been soooo good for European Rugby)
Posted 00:55 16th October 2012
munster30 says...
@froggy73
and what would the"the usual screamings from the Irish" be?
Would it be "5 H Cups in the last 7 years"?
Or maybe "3 quarter finalists out of 4 teams entered last year"?
Or possibly "Ulster romp to bonus point victory against Castres"?
Because you certainly won't hear any Irish complaining about this 15 considering that Ulster beat a poor Castre side, Leinster scraped past the Exeter Chiefs, Munster managed to throw away the match in Paris and despite Connacht recording their first away win in the H Cup this weekend, it was against Italian opposition.
So maybe wait a minute before making some ridiculous, one eyed, unfounded comments.
Sour grapes over Irish domination of the competition n'est pas?
Posted 22:33 15th October 2012
elbarto66 says...
A little heads up about Fickou. He isn't in any way a product of the Toulouse Academy but rather of the Toulon one. He was brought in this year after puting on sterling performances with the U18 french side during the junior WRC.
By the way the same can be said about A Guillamon, the tighthead prop who came in in the second half for Census Jonhston. He has come this year from Lyon...
For quite a few years Toulouse has been using its reputation to draft most of the star youngsters as they come out of Marcoussis, the national training center...
Posted 19:34 15th October 2012
melkdave says...
PS
Oh almost forgot ,but i would have had M.Gitaue at myself ,he was outstanding ,and dis a hell of alot more tha G.Fickou imo
Posted 18:40 15th October 2012
melkdave says...
Well its a fair reflectin imo,of how the teams went and what players made a differrance .Bet there was some big arguements in the PR office though ,as stated above alot of players put in sterling preformances,and alot of positions must have been veruy close calls
Posted 18:12 15th October 2012
Bones7 says...
Picamoles SURELY has to beat Easter, he is a genuine world class 8 who does everything with so much power. APV1, I agree regarding Flood, never rated him. He will do what he normally does, have a few stormers, get picked for England then have a spectacular decline into mediocrity. I bet a lot of countries wish they had problems like deciding between the likes of Fofana and Fickou in the centres! I still think Estebanez is one of the unluckiest players in France with selections as well!
Posted 17:28 15th October 2012
lardon says...
@Rosbif
Completely agree. Leinster were outplayed by Exeter in the contact area, How a Leinster backrow forward has got the nod over over any of the Chiefs backrow is beyond me..
Posted 17:22 15th October 2012
heart_of_oak says...
APV1, re Cypriani, is this more of your famous sarcasm ? One swallow doesn't make a summer, as I think Bill Clinton once said. I'd want to see what cipriani does over the entire season. He didn't make the starting berth for this game which I think is a reflection of inconsistent performances so far.
Only change I'd have made to this would have been Danny Care in place of Paul Marshall but I'm not complaining. Marshall did have a good game.
Re the mention of Lawes, the other week he was playing at 6 rather than in the 2nd row. I hope we can see more of him in back row positions.
Also good to see Delon Armitage playing well. I hope he keeps that up and leaves the pratting about behind.
No Scots in this selection. I'm beginning to think Richie Gray made a mistake moving to Sale.
Posted 17:15 15th October 2012
kybone says...
@APV1- Charlie Hodgeson has retired from international rugby. Can't really comment on the selection as i only saw 4 games over the weekend, but one thing puzzles me- Why does Waisea Nayacalevu get a mention in the Heineken Cup TOTW when his team are not in the competition?!
Posted 17:08 15th October 2012
NHsaints says...
Lawes surely deserved a mention and Had Hartley scored that try he'd have been a shoe in for the 2 jersey. Cole was good also at 3 even when the rest of his scrum wasn't. Fair selections I think though, a good reflection of the opening round results.
Posted 16:57 15th October 2012
APV1 says...
@ PR Ed. - thanks for editing your prop selection.
Posted 16:08 15th October 2012
pierredelot1 says...
Mmm well Fickou got man of the match, but Picamoles was man of the match. He totally outclassed Crane and Waldrom and invarioubly made yards with half the Leicester pack hanging on to him. I know who Cockers would rather have. You'll see the best of Fickou when the sun comes out. Great hands, good vision, space and with all players like that plenty of time, but give the lad a break he's only 18.
Posted 15:41 15th October 2012
Rosbif says...
...uh oh, PR, there's still one too many Leinstermen in there i'm afraid..... :-)
Posted 15:34 15th October 2012
APV1 says...
Nothing mediocre about that 15, eh folks..?! ;-)
France have got a massive problam at 12: Who to pick, Fickou or Fofana..?! Both excellent.
Hodgson is going to give Lancaster a headache, with Cips adding to the problem - who do we pick at 10? Flood was not as good as either of them over the weekend.
Easter should be a contender for the Autumn internationals, just to try to keep us in a top 4 position. Then we need to concentrate on the future.
I thought Exeter's Tom Johnson might get a Mention in Dispatches too.
Posted 15:31 15th October 2012
froggy73 says...
Aie aie aie. Only 2 Irish... I am hearing already the usual screamings from the Irish... let the party start :)
Posted 15:25 15th October 2012
TVaddict says...
So:
4 English
3 French
3 Welsh
2 Samoans
2 Irish
1 American
Fair selections really, nothing much to complain about. From an English perspective though I thought Hartley deserved a mention as when a team fights back from 15-0 down I think the captain deserves some credit. Plus Lawes and Johnson for their brilliant defensive performances and shear amount of work around the park.
Posted 15:23 15th October 2012