Champions Cup Team of the Week: Jasper Wiese cameo enough to earn him hotly contested number eight shirt

James While
Champions Cup Team of the Week

Now that the dust has settled on the round-of-16 stage of the Champions Cup, we have had a discussion and selected our Team of the Week.

It was a hugely entertaining weekend as Leicester, Sharks, Stormers, La Rochelle, Leinster, Exeter, Toulouse and Saracens all progressed to the last eight.

So without further ado, let’s take a look at who made the cut in our selection.

Champions Cup team of the round-of-16

15 Thomas Ramos (Toulouse): A great weekend for full-backs and Ramos was in vintage form for Toulouse against the Bulls as he dominated almost every facet of the match. We might have picked either of Stormers’ superb Damian Willemse or skilful Saracen, Alex Goode, but Ramos was an influential powerhouse for Toulouse.

14 Max Malins (Saracens): Two tries and a spirited display from the electric Englishman gets him the nod on the right wing, over Exeter’s skipper Jack Nowell, who inspired the Chiefs’ comeback. Teddy Thomas broke Gloucester’s heart with a last-minute try, his second of the game, for La Rochelle.

13 Chris Harris (Gloucester): Despite finishing on the losing side, Harris’ defence and an early try gets him our slot in an assured display. Saracens’ Alex Lozowski and Sharks’ Lukhanyo Am both demonstrated their Test quality in impressive wins over the Ospreys and Munster respectively.

12 Louis Carbonel (Montpellier): The fly-half slotted in at 12 off the bench for Montpellier and almost turned the course of the game. Keiran Williams was magnificent for the Ospreys whilst Nick Tompkins was his spiky self against 17 Welsh team-mates for Saracens.

11 Makazole Mapimpi (Sharks): Another superb display from the Bok flyer as he helped demolish Munster. Elsewhere, Louis Rees-Zammit almost inspired the win of the season for Gloucester at La Rochelle, whilst Mattis Lebel also impressed for Toulouse.

10 Handre Pollard (Leicester Tigers): Pollard impressed again for Leicester as he is clearly coming back to his world-class best just as the World Cup approaches, which is great news for South Africa. Owen Farrell kept Saracens on the front foot all game on Sunday against Ospreys and a word too for Joe Simmonds, who had ice in his veins as he closed off the match for the Chiefs.

9 Antoine Dupont (Toulouse): Just incredible once again for Toulouse as he ran show against the Bulls. Dupont is playing rugby on a different level to anyone else. England’s Jack van Poortvliet displayed his improvement for Tigers and in Dublin Jamison Gibson-Park drove Leinster all afternoon, scooting over for a try himself.

8 Jasper Wiese (Leicester Tigers): Three star players makes this a tough call – the wonderful athleticism of Sikhumbuzo Notshe saw him grab the ‘star of the match’ award in Durban whilst Leinster’s Jack Conan illustrated the depth of Irish back-row talent. But nobody made more impact than Wiese, who changed the course of the Tigers performance against Edinburgh.

7 Deon Fourie (Stormers): Simply magnificent as he scored twice for the Stormers in their disposal of Harlequins. Ben Earl (Saracens) was dynamic, fast and effective as he impressed all game in a brilliant performance at StoneX Stadium. Elsewhere, it was another fine display from France and Toulouse’s glue player, Francois Cros, who spent half the match at number eight where he created two tries. Tommy Reffell also starred for Tigers in the rain and mud of Welford Road while Lewis Ludlow went well for Gloucester.

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6 Lenni Nouchi (Montpellier): Jack Willis impressed once again for Toulouse, but for Montpellier, 19-year-old back-row Nouchi underlined his immense promise with an absolutely brilliant display against Exeter. Remember this name, he is very much one to watch. Mentions also go to La Rochelle’s Ultan Dillane, Ethan Roots of the Ospreys and Leinster’s Ryan Baird.

5 Elliott Stooke (Montpellier): The old warhorse has had some huge setbacks in recent times but his 100-minute shift for Montpellier was one of the key reasons the match went down to the wire – he was magnificent. Emmanuel Meafou delivered a massive performance and slammed over for another try for Toulouse, James Ryan continued his fine form in Leinster’s win over Ulster and Eben Etzebeth’s presence in the first half was vital for the Sharks as he also crossed the whitewash.

4 Maro Itoje (Saracens): Itoje looks back to his dynamic best as he was influential against two British and Irish Lions colleagues for Sarries. On Friday night, George Martin impressed for Tigers in an all-action outing, and Exeter’s Jonny Gray also delivered the goods in a 100-minute effort at Sandy Park.

3 Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers): For once, Cole’s award is down to his ruck and tackle work in the Welford Road mud as he rolled back the years. Marco Riccioni was a critical man in Saracens’ scrum dominance against Ospreys, whilst Leinster’s Tadhg Furlong reminded us all of his world-class credentials, as he spent two spells on the pitch, returning after Michael Ala’alatoa’s injury.

2 Dan Frost (Exeter Chiefs): Despite an ill-disciplined start, 17 carries for 59 metres and 19 tackles underlined a superb performance from the ex-Wasp. He’s had a disruptive season, losing his job at his former club, and it was delightful to see him responding to his new challenge – he was Exeter’s heartbeat all afternoon. In any other weekend, Bongi Mbonambi would have taken this slot for his brace of tries, and Jamie George also delivered an impressive display for Sarries, but Frost’s comeback, against the equally impressive Curtis Langdon of Montpellier, is something we felt worth celebrating.

1 Mako Vunipola (Saracens): A superb performance from the big prop saw him approaching his absolute best as he ran around the StoneX 4G surface like a fourth flanker. Leinster’s Andrew Porter was also in sparkling form, running hard in Dublin, whilst Harlequins’ Joe Marler might have finished on the losing side in Cape Town but certainly got one over on the massive Frans Malherbe. Scott Sio also put in an impressive shift for Chiefs.

READ MORE: Who’s hot and who’s not: Heroic performances in defeat, another award for Antoine Dupont and shock retirement

Champions Cup Antoine Dupont Handre Pollard Jasper Wiese

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