Team of the Week: Champions Cup, quarter-finals
With the quarter-finals of this season’s Champions Cup now over, we’ve sat down to select our standout players of the weekend.
Irish provinces Munster and Leinster lead the way with four representatives each, while the Scarlets have three in the side.
Team of the Week: Champions Cup, quarter-finals
15 Leigh Halfpenny (Scarlets): Arguably his best performance for some time. The Wales international was typically reliable from the tee and in defence, but Halfpenny also displayed more in attack than those in the country have been accustomed to, running for 63 metres. Chris Ashton was excellent for Toulon, scoring a try and displaying impressive decision-making in backfield to mop up any grubber kicks through, but the Scarlets full-back was simply superb for the Llanelli-based outfit.
14 Andrew Conway (Munster): Provided the moment of the round, somehow grasping a Francois Trinh-Duc clearance kick and beating several defenders on his way to a memorable score. It won the game for the Irish province and kept their dreams of a third European title alive – their first since 2008. Teddy Thomas was prominent for Racing 92 in the second half of their encounter, but it was impossible to leave Conway out.
13 Sam Arnold (Munster): A difficult one here following a number of fine performances. Garry Ringrose (Leinster) and Damian Penaud (Clermont Auvergne) both had their moments but Arnold was incredibly solid for the Limerick-based outfit. The centre was excellent in defence, making 10 tackles, and carried hard in the absence of Jaco Taute and Chris Farrell. All in all, he ran for 36 metres from five carries as the Irishmen came from behind to defeat Toulon.
12 Isa Nacewa (Leinster): Just a remarkable player. Nacewa has generally been used as a full-back or wing for the Irish province but, at the age of 35, has made the switch to centre seamlessly. In a high-quality encounter, Nacewa was among the best performers against Saracens as Leinster reached the semi-finals. Hadleigh Parkes continued his recent fine form by playing a starring role in the Scarlets’ victory over La Rochelle, while Sarries’ Brad Barritt was excellent defensively on Sunday, but Nacewa edges it.
11 Marc Andreu (Racing 92): Shows that you don’t need to be huge to make a gargantuan impact in this game after a fine individual display. The 5′ 5” wing created one of this season’s great tries by scampering down the left to help set-up Leone Nakarawa, before he collected Dan Carter’s pass for the game-defining score in the second half. James Lowe produced a couple of crucial moments for Leinster and Semi Radradra was a constant threat down Munster’s right, but the Toulon man’s failure to convert an opportunity after the break was a huge error.
10 Johnny Sexton (Leinster): The Ireland playmaker slotted three penalties and two conversions for a total tally of 13 points. The assuredness with which he plays calms those around him and he has once again risen to the big occassion. Will be delighted to have won the personal duel against British and Irish Lions counterpart Owen Farrell.
9 Maxime Machenaud (Racing 92): The Les Bleus‘ half-back produced a near-flawless kicking display, landing five of his six attempts. Got to the breakdown quickly and showed a great understanding with Carter when he came on. Morgan Parra fought valiantly for Clermont and was unlucky to be on the losing side, while Conor Murray was his usual alert self for Munster.
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8 Jackson Wray (Saracens): Immense carrying performance from Wray. Five defenders beaten and 80 metres gained from 13 advances makes for mightily impressive reading. Beats out Munster’s CJ Stander, who was his usual busy self with 21 tackles and 16 carries as well as Toulon’s Duane Vermeulen, who was a constant threat with ball in hand.
7 Dan Leavy (Leinster): Arguably the player of the weekend, Leavy was a colossus on Sunday with statistics barely on the charts – 16 carries for 82 metres, three clean breaks, two offloads and 16 tackles, all topped off with a wonderful try from a move he started. Comes in ahead of Toulon’s Facundo Isa, who made an unbelievable 20 carries on the weekend.
6 Peter O’Mahony (Munster): Led his side brilliantly, making the right decisions at crucial times. Got over the advantage line regularly with his eight carries. Made some massive hits on defence and came away with 14 tackles. Proved to be a nuisance at the line-out too, pilfering Toulon ball on more than one occasion.
5 James Ryan (Leinster): His season is going from strength to strength and it was another impressive showing from the Irish lock on Sunday. Ryan got through a mountain of work against Saracens and finished with a team high of 17 carries and 17 tackles in Dublin which is quite outstanding. Ryan sees off Racing 92 second-row Leone Nakarawa for this jersey and in all honesty it was an easy decision.
4 Tadhg Beirne (Scarlets): Seems to churn out strong performance after strong performance for the Welsh region and will be sorely missed when he leaves for Ireland at the end of the season. Saracens’ Maro Itoje and Racing 92’s Donnacha Ryan both earn mentions.
3 Stephen Archer (Munster): Mentions for Mohamed Boughanmi and Tadhg Furlong for their efforts in La Rochelle and Leinster colours over the weekend but we go for Archer here. He was excellent at scrum time and also offered plenty in the loose in a busy display.
2 Ken Owens (Scarlets): One of his best performances in a Scarlets shirt, Owens was excellent on Friday against La Rochelle. Owens beats Camille Chat (Racing 92) to this spot as the Welshman’s leadership, workrate, skills and set-piece were top notch throughout.
1 Mako Vunipola (Saracens): What a shift from Vunipola. He returned to the starting side on Sunday and looked full of energy as he got through a mountain of work, especially early on. Rob Evans also impressed for the Scarlets but the Saracens prop was an outright choice here. Vunipola finished with 20 runs and 16 tackles at the Aviva Stadium and proved just what a special talent he is at loosehead.