Premiership Team of the Week: ‘Remarkably classy’ Lions hopeful continues rise while England bolter emerges
Following the conclusion of Round 14 of the Premiership season, here is the latest Planet Rugby 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.
The play-off chasers are slowly being whittled down now as we head towards the final rounds of the season, with Northampton Saints and Harlequins losing pace with the rest of the crowd, but the battle is still very much on at the top of the table. Bath remain clear at the summit, but vital wins for Leicester Tigers, Saracens and Sale Sharks have changed the picture yet again.
Without further ado, here is our 15!
eToro Premiership Team of the Week
15 Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers): It’s so pleasing to see Steward playing like this again after what was a difficult Six Nations for him, and his performance was undoubtedly a key factor in his side’s win over Bristol. He grew into the game brilliantly in the victory on Sunday, and made those sort of attacking interjections he was showing a few months ago, which later resulted in a lovely try. Tom de Glanville and Josh Hodge were also excellent in their respective outings at Sandy Park.
14 Adam Radwan (Leicester Tigers): This was a tough call, but Radwan just edges out Leicester colleague Ollie Hassell-Collins into this Team of the Week. Leicester’s early pressure came directly from forcing Bristol into mistakes, and a large part of that came from Radwan’s hounding kick-chases, but on top of that he showed just what a dangerous ball-carrier he can be both in space and in those tight exchanges as well. Could an England recall be coming his way?
13 Kalaveti Ravouvou (Bristol Bears): The assist to Gabriel Ibitoye alone deserves a spot in this selection, but Ravouvou was ridiculous for Bristol on Sunday. He just seemed to make things happen whenever he touched the ball, be it through a delicious line break of his own or creating space for others, and he capped it off with a deserving score to go alongside his assist. Solomone Kata deserves some flowers for his day’s work at Ashton Gate as well, despite the yellow card late on.
12 Olly Hartley (Saracens): An understated yet incredibly solid performance from the England hopeful, who picked a great time to do it, considering he was up against Seb Atkinson this weekend. Hartley consistently made himself available for work on both sides of the ball, making nine carries ball-in-hand for 27 metres and chipping in with six tackles in defence too, which in turn helped Saracens neutralise the midfield threat of Gloucester. Cam Redpath made a decent impression too for Bath.
11 Paul Brown-Bampoe (Exeter Chiefs): Bath were very, very nearly Brown-Bampoe’d on Saturday – that’s how good he was. The explosive winger was a consistent threat ball-in-hand, notching 120 metres from his 11 carries and racking up three line breaks too, and while it didn’t always pay off, his aerial work rivalled that of opposite man Will Muir – who was close to getting into this team – and helped Exeter claw their way back into a game that looked dead and buried at half-time. He’s had an excellent season too, and could possibly be a bolter for England ahead of the summer tour?
10 George Ford (Sale Sharks): Yet another remarkably classy performance from the Sale Sharks man, who continues to push his name into that British and Irish Lions conversation as a result of his form. He just seemed to effortlessly manoeuvre Sale around the park in their mammoth win over Harlequins, but crucially got them playing a fast, attacking game too. Fin Smith was also in great touch for Northampton in their win over Newcastle.
9 Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers): It was a huge game for the England international, considering he was up against Test rival Harry Randall, but he arguably put in his best performance of the season for the Tigers to make a statement. He looked back to his very best in an all-action display, and his try was just reward for his efforts. Ben Spencer can feel hard done by to miss out, though.
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The forwards
8 Arthur Green (Bath Rugby): Mental to think that was his Premiership debut, as he was arguably the best player on the pitch during his outing. The 21-year-old never shied away from the hard graft, making a team-high 15 carries for 73 metres ball-in-hand and matching that with 13 tackles in defence too, which would certainly please boss Johann van Graan. Opposite number on the day, Greg Fisilau, was also in great form once again.
7 Tom Curry (Sale Sharks): Get him on that plane to Australia! Curry was yet again remarkable for Sale Sharks in their win over Harlequins with seven carries for 26 metres and two tries to his name for good measure too. Miles Reid also impressed for Bath.
6 Tommy Reffell (Leicester Tigers): We’ve had to slide Reffell over into the number six jersey this week, beating out fellow Tiger Hanro Liebenberg in the process, but there was no way we could leave the Welshman out of our team. He was a one-man tackling and jackaling machine at Ashton Gate with 18 tackles and three turnovers to his name, and that should certainly prick Andy Farrell’s ears.
5 Nick Isiekwe (Saracens): It’s been a tough 2025 for lock Isiekwe, but this was exactly the reminder we needed of his true quality in his first Premiership start of the calendar year. The imposing England international made himself really busy in defence with 10 tackles to his name, but he was also very dependable at the lineout, which helped Saracens dominate that battle.
4 Dafydd Jenkins (Exeter Chiefs): Despite copping a yellow card early into the game, Jenkins put in yet another world-class display in front of Lions boss Farrell. The lock made two huge turnovers to get his side back into the contest, and yet again hit like a steam train with 13 tackles to his name. This call does feel a tad harsh on Bath’s Ewan Richards, who was immense throughout.
3 Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks): Continues to prove the hype surrounding him is justified, and Saturday’s outing was no exception as he was mesmeric. Locked down the scrum yet again, but also looked to make some dents in the loose too and grabbed a well-deserved try for his efforts too. Surely he’s got himself on the plane for England’s summer tour now. Will Stuart made a decent go of it for Bath off the bench.
2 Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks): It might not have grabbed the headlines of Theo Dan’s brace, but Cowan-Dickie was a man on a mission on Saturday against Harlequins. He’s been bang in-form for some time now, but this was arguably his best outing in a Sale shirt since his switch from Exeter, making 42 metres from his 10 carries and matching that with a staggering 19 tackles too.
1 Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks): Completing the shiver of Sharks in the front-row is Rodd. As a unit, this trio is arguably the most underrated in the league, if not Europe, and they all showed that on Saturday. Across his outing, Rodd made a tidy nine tackles in defence, four carries and yet again showed some proper scrummaging steel. Just a very tidy player, who deserves some more recognition then he gets. Beno Obano was also solid upon his arrival from the bench.
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