Investec Champions Cup Team of the Week: French ‘genius’ elevates himself to ‘another level’ as England discard produces a ‘masterclass’
Union Bordeaux Bègles' Louis Bielle-Biarrey (INPHO/Billy Stickland/EPCR) and Sale Sharks' George Ford (INPHO/Cat Goryn/EPCR).
After another wonderful showcase of everything that’s great about European rugby, it’s time for our Investec Champions Cup Round of 16 Team of the Week.
15 Salesi Rayasi (Union Bordeaux-Bègles): A hat-trick hero in a statement performance for the champions, Rayasi looked sensational in the French sun. It’s great to see Hugo Keenan back and playing at his absolute best. A try, 14 carries and 54 metres made sees him runner-up ahead of the mercurial Toulouse superstar, Thomas Ramos, who played his part in a thrashing of Bristol Bears at the Ernest-Wallon. George Furbank was excellent too on Friday night.
14 Tommy O’Brien (Leinster): O’Brien was instrumental in the hottest of starts for the Irish province as they disposed of Edinburgh in Dublin. RC Toulon’s young flyer Gaël Dréan, was in sensational form at the Stade Mayol, grabbing two as he was a key part of a famous win in the French port city. Teddy Thomas also made a huge impact for Toulouse as he rolled back the years in a fine outing while Christian Ambadiang also impressed for Castres.
Top 14 dominates but Englishman shines
13 Kalvin Gourgues (Toulouse): Simply wow. Two tries and 138 metres made as the emerging Rouge et Noir centre ripped Bristol apart. France are stacked with options in midfield, but the case for this wonderful talent is gathering momentum by the moment. Glasgow’s Stafford McDowall seemed a gamble of a selection over Lion Huw Jones, but the big man was a central figure in an excellent effort from the Weegies to overcome Bulls in a classic.
12 Nacho Brex (RC Toulon): Playing at left centre in the RCT system, the Azzurri vice captain gave the Mayol faithful an epic performance of titanic defence and wonderful distribution, as he made two tries for his backline. But his tackle in the dying moments as Stormers threatened almost demolished the Mayol west stand. Ferocious and brilliant. Bristol’s James Williams may have been on the end of a hiding but emerged with huge credit with 10 carries for 148 metres.
11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey (Union Bordeaux-Bègles): Who else? There were five minutes at the end of the first half where the Bordeaux genius just elevated himself to another level as he ran riot, scoring one and creating two. And then, in the last moment, he hits a tackle that turns Tigers over on the line. And ran for a round-topping 178 metres. Our Player of the Round (again!). Exquisite. England’s Henry Arundell grabbed two for Bath and carried for 118 metres in a performance that will please the England selectors while Vuate Karawalevu (Castres) was also electric.
10 George Ford (Sale Sharks): A masterclass from the England discard saw Sale march into the quarter-finals. In a weekend where Matthieu Jalibert was, at times, absolutely unplayable, Tomás Albornoz was sensational and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu gave us the play of the weekend with his no-look chip kick, it was the wonderful distribution but it was the pinpoint kicking of the England 10 that impressed us the most. For fans of great fly-half play, it’s joyous that Ford, SFM, Jalibert, Albornoz and Finn Russell are all playing rugby at the highest level, five brilliant exponents of the art.
9 Maxime Lucu (Union Bordeaux-Bègles): If Bordeaux are a party side, then Lucu is its designated driver. Back from injury, the local hero was a rock in distribution and intelligence. Ben White had a thunderous match for RCT, whilst the brilliance of veteran Cobus Reinach almost saw Stormers pull off the win of the round as he was magnificent in defeat.
Back-five
8 Alfie Barbeary (Bath Rugby): Thunderous is the only word to describe the Bath barrel as he and Saracens’ superb Tom Willis went toe to toe in a wonderful personal duel. RCT’s young Georgian Mikheili Shioshvili looks one for the future as he hammered the Stormers time and time again with ball in hand.
7 Charles Ollivon (RC Toulon): Le Grand Charles is back to his very best and that means world-class. Stormers fans might not be happy about the last moment of his performance as he may very well have been a smidgen offside, but his last-gasp tackle won the match for his team. Bristol’s Fitz Harding and Bath’s Guy Pepper also delivered big performances for their team, although with differing outcomes in terms of results.
6 Cameron Woki (Union Bordeaux-Bègles): The local hero is finally home and he treated the UBB faithful to a thundering display, grabbing the first try and feeding an endless supply of lineout ball to the hungry Bordeaux backs. Jack Conan got on the scoresheet again for Leinster in another clattering carrying effort while Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins) was a beast off the bench.
5 David Ribbans (RC Toulon): Oh how England missed out on this brilliant lock. With remarkable symmetry, he put the side that first signed him to the sword in a rumbling and powerful performance. Ruan Nortje was magnificent for the Bulls – a truly world-class player, but even his efforts were not enough to see the Pretorian side home.
4 Max Williams (Glasgow Warriors): A try-scoring effort from the big Weegie and a famous win in a classic encounter. Bath’s Charlie Ewels looks back to his best after injury, whilst Ruan Vermaak also stood up for Bulls.
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The front-rowers
3 Thomas du Toit (Bath Rugby): It is so hard to leave out the Butcher of Bordeaux, big Ben Tameifuna, but Du Toit was a key part of a Bath performance when his side needed it most and when Saracens looked as if they might pull off a shock result.
2 Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks): Two tries, and out for another three months. The Shark cannot buy an injury-free run right now; nevertheless, he was outstanding in his performance. UBB’s Maxime Lamothe gave us the gallop of the round as he ran in a memorable try in the Bordeaux sunshine. Johan Grobbelaar is unfortunate to miss out after a mammoth 80-minute performance which included a try and a huge tackle count.
1 Andrew Porter (Leinster): Porter is back and his turnovers were a key influence in the Leinster win. RCT’s Jean-Baptiste Gros had to put in a double shift when Dany Priso limped off with what looks like a serious injury, whilst Jefferson Poirot had another classy outing for Bordeaux, as did Northampton’s Danilo Fischetti. Glasgow’s Patrick Schickerling enjoyed a strong outing against the imposing Bok tighthead Wilco Louw.