Premiership Team of the Week: Luther Burrell picks ‘fantastic’ George Ford at 10 alongside ‘world class’ scrum-half
Former England and Northampton Saints centre Luther Burrell has picked his Premiership Team of the Week.
With Northampton and Bath set for Twickenham on June 8, this week’s Head of Selectors is Luther Burrell as we look at the players who shone in the semi-finals.
We have teamed up with eToro, the official investing and trading partner of Premiership Rugby, to launch a new feature that will see us name a best XV from a famous face after every Premiership round for the remainder of the season.
On the back of his predictions on Friday, Burrell rejoins us to select his team of the semi-finals.
Premiership Team of the Week
15 Matt Gallagher (Bath): A hugely competitive position and I might have gone for Joe Carpenter of Sale or the brilliant George Furbank. But Gallagher’s solidity is one of the reasons Bath got through and he’s my pick.
14 Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints): Tommy is such a big unit these days he challenges teams in so many different ways. Tom Roebuck is another big man who also enjoyed a fine day at the Rec.
13 Burger Odendaal (Northampton Saints): A match-winning performance in the centres, Odendaal adds a lot of heft into the skill-based Saints backline. I also enjoyed the performance of Lucio Cinti, one of Sarries’ better players on the night.
12 Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints): Dingwall is the captain of the Saints defence and he leads by intelligence and example. He was the standout 12 although quietly Cam Redpath also impressed me for Bath.
11 Will Muir (Bath): The man known as ‘Horse’ is another big unit, extremely capable in the air. A word for the retiring Alex Lewington, a really unsung player whether for Sarries or London Irish. He’ll be missed. Ollie Sleightholme also continued his form in a quality display of running rugby.
Four top class 10s
10 George Ford (Sale Sharks): Yes, he was on the losing side, but check the match territory stats and the reason Bath were kept pinned in their own half was Ford‘s absolute control of the areas he wanted to play in. All of the other 10s, Finn Russell, Fin Smith and Owen Farrell shone, but Fordy was just that bit more assured. Fantastic display in defeat.
9 Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints): Mitch is a world class nine and once again teased the Sarries defence to the point of breaking. Ben Spencer put in a massive shift for Bath and sometimes I don’t get why England haven’t used him more often.
8 Alfie Barbeary (Bath): An absolute monster with ball in hand, he creates so much space for others – his drive before Beno Obano’s try took three defenders with it and that was key in opening up holes. Juarno Augustus emptied the tank for Saints, whilst Billy Vunipola gave everything in defeat for Sarries.
7 Ted Hill (Bath): I’ve switched big Ted to seven for obvious reasons. He was superb for 60 minutes and grabbed a vital and intelligent try. A word for Tom Curry – he was monstrous for half an hour and Josh Bayliss is probably still feeling his tackle!
Sale Sharks boss in warning to Steve Borthwick over Tom Curry’s England prospects
6 Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints): There are no words to describe his contribution to Northampton Saints. I’ve been honoured to have played with him many times and he just gets better and better. His opposite number, Juan Martin Gonzalez played out of his socks too – his last-gasp tackle on Mitchell was something quite exceptional.
Second-row pairing
5 Charlie Ewels (Bath): Charlie is back to his very best. He’s a real nuts and bolts player who leads by example. Saints’ Alex Coles is unlucky to miss out, but I’m sure he’ll be on the plane to New Zealand with England.
4 Cobus Wiese (Sale Sharks): Wiese was absolutely brilliant for Sale in the close quarter exchanges and topped both the match carry and tackle stats, so despite losing, he’s our number four lock. Saints will miss Alex Moon as much as anyone as he heads to France. His tussle with Maro Itoje, also in fine form, was a feature of the match at Franklin’s Gardens.
3 Trevor Davison (Northampton Saints): Big Trev is attracting a lot of attention in terms of England slots and his scrummaging on Friday night was a real bonus as he dismantled Mako Vunipola. A word for Thomas du Toit, Bath’s massive Bok, who is one of the signings of the season.
2 Curtis Langdon (Northampton Saints): Eclipsed the current England skipper Jamie George in a brilliant fusion of carrying and set-piece power. Tom Dunn was his usual reliable and massive self for Bath as he was a driving force in their maul.
1 Beno Obano (Bath): A devastating display of explosive scrummaging from the Bath loosehead, who also powered over for a crucial try. I’m sad to leave out Alex Waller, one of the unsung heroes of Saints rugby, but he’s got one more game left in the green black and gold and I hope he gets the send off he deserves.
