Premiership Team of the Week: An England ‘Test asset’ shines while Steve Borthwick will be ‘counting days’ until centre’s eligibility for the Red Rose
Fresh off the back of an impressive win for his Championship side Chinnor, who disposed of Bedford Blues 18-5 on Saturday, Nick Easter joins us to pick his Premiership Team of the Week.
For the second season in a row we have partnered with eToro, the official investing and trading partner of Premiership Rugby, to bring you a best XV from every Premiership round, each one chosen by a famous face from the world of rugby. This week, it’s Nick Easter’s turn.
“Firstly, I’d like to congratulate all teams concerned for a thrilling weekend. My overarching feeling watching these matches is that the Premiership has moved from a competition won by defences to a competition won by attacks, and that in itself is a rarity – something we expect from New Zealand sides perhaps,” Easter said.
“Bristol are riding a wave at the moment and their performance at Welford Road was their 10th consecutive away win, a remarkable statistic. With Saracens and Sale also impressing and Bath grabbing points on the road, it’s becoming a very tight table. Anyway, without further ado, here’s my Team of the Week.”
eToro Premiership Team of the Week
15 Joe Carpenter (Sale Sharks): Scored a lovely try and was as solid as a rock at the back in defence. Freddie Steward was on the end of a rout but showed some nice touches in attack for Tigers, whilst Rich Lane was on the end of a memorable 100m turnover try for Bristol Bears.
14 Ollie Hassell-Collins (Leicester Tigers): On the end of an absolute pasting, but Hassell-Collins stood up with ball in hand to grab a pair of tries, showing his finishing is as good as ever. Tom Roebuck was industrious for Sale too, as they saw off the Chiefs.
13 Kalaveti Ravouvou (Bristol Bears): One half of a compelling double act in the Bristol midfield, he grabbed a couple of tries in an all-action display. Bath’s Ollie Lawrence, fast becoming one of England’s key players, also stood out in his team’s win up at Newcastle Falcons.
12 Benhard Janse van Rensburg (Bristol Bears): It takes some performance to see off Gloucester Rugby’s Seb Atkinson, who was brilliant at Kingsholm, but Janse van Rensburg was the architect of so much of Bristol’s excellence. England will be counting the days down until this time next year when he becomes available via residency. World class.
11 Josh Hathaway (Gloucester Rugby): A tough selection on the left wing with both Gabriel Ibitoye and Ollie Sleightholme in thundering form, but Hathaway showed great maturity against Quins and I really enjoyed the way he combined with Tomos Williams on the kick chases. Gloucester are doing a great job for Wales ahead of the Six Nations!
10 Fergus Burke (Saracens): Again a really hard choice as I thought George Ford was superb in driving the win against Exeter Chiefs and Finn Russell was again magnificent on the road up at Falcons, but Burke proved why Mark McCall wanted him to fill Owen Farrell’s shirt.
9 Ivan van Zyl (Saracens): Alongside Burke, Van Zyl bossed the match with a lovely display of clever box kicking and sniping with ball in hand. Sale’s Raffi Quirke also impressed and I want to see him as the back-up to Alex Mitchell, who might have finished on the losing side at the StoneX but at least proved his fitness.
Power pack
8 Tom Willis (Saracens): England needs abrasion and carrying brawn in their back-row and Tom provides precisely that. His claims have moved him ahead of Alfie Barbeary, who scored again for Bath, whilst Juarno Augustus was definitely one of Saints’ better performers. A mention for Bill Mata, a rock in Bristol’s carnage at Welford Road.
7 Fritz Harding (Bristol Bears): A shout out to the Bristol man, the oil in the wheels of the Bears machine, whilst Ben Earl grabbed a 30m run in, showing us he’s back to his best. Ben Curry also deserves his flowers for a strong shift for Sale.
6 Jack Clement (Gloucester Rugby): Clement goes under the radar but his effectiveness for the Cherry and Whites means he’s fast becoming almost undroppable for them. Juan Martin Gonzalez was in classy form for Saracens, and I’d also like to shout out Steven Luatua, a man that rarely has a bad game for Bristol.
5 Jonny Hill (Sale Sharks): A fit and focused Jonny Hill is a Test asset the like of which we don’t have many – a properly big Test lock – and he’s put his discipline issues behind him now. Sarries’ Theo McFarland showed his world class versatility in another stellar showing at the StoneX.
4 Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby): A brilliantly abrasive shift from one of the most likeable men in the game as he powered the Bath pack to a great win. Maro Itoje is always there or thereabouts and this weekend was no different as he delivered a huge shift.
3 Afo Fasogbon (Gloucester Rugby): I am being harsh on Will Stuart, England’s most improved player who scored again for Bath Rugby, but young Afo is something else and I am relishing his impact in Test rugby. A great shame he was on for only 35 minutes and England will sweat over his injury. Asher Opoku-Fordjour also enjoyed his romp up in the Sale mud.
2 Theo Dan (Saracens): Some standout performances from both Theo and a rival for the England shirt, Brisol’s Gabe Oghre, as both youngsters impressed with ball in hand. The old stagers Luke Cowan-Dickie and Jamie George won’t give up their places easily as both contributed for Sale and Sarries respectively.
1 Rhys Carre (Saracens): Carre was ditched by Wales with comments about his fitness and tight work ringing in his ears, but he seems to have addressed that. Bevan Rodd was a fourth backrower once again for Sale, whilst Gloucester’s Ciaran Knight had a stormer after being called into the team four minutes before kick-off.
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READ MORE: Sale Sharks v Exeter Chiefs: Five takeaways as England ‘mastermind’ guides Sale to gutsy win
