Following another enthralling weekend of United Rugby Championship (URC) action over the festive period, here is the Planet Rugby Team of the Week for Round Nine.
Leinster and the Scarlets lead the way in terms of representation after their dominant victories over Munster and Dragons respectively, with Stormers and Benetton the next best.
URC Team of the Week
15 Rhyno Smith (Benetton): Consistently excellent for the Italian outfit and the flyer was once again in superb form as they defeated their intra-country rivals Zebre in the reverse fixture. After a tense first match between these two, which Benetton edged, the Treviso outfit were far more convincing this time around, in part thanks to Smith, who was a real threat with ball in hand, making 66 metres and beating eight defenders.
14 Simone Gesi (Zebre Parma): Always fun to watch and has been in fine form this season. Despite his side’s defeat, Gesi was once again outstanding, making the most metres or line breaks of anyone on the field, while he also touched down. Started on the left wing, but he simply had to be in the team, so we moved him over. In the Stormers-Sharks clash, Suleiman Hartzenberg and Yaw Penxe both had their moments, but Gesi takes it.
13 Tommaso Menoncello (Benetton): Another player from that all-Italian clash with the powerful young centre once again making a significant impact. Has the pace, power and rugby intellect to operate at either 12 or 13 but he has been in the outside centre channel for Benetton this season, where Menoncello has greater space to display his magic in attack, which he displayed against Zebre. The Scarlets’ Joe Roberts, Jurenzo Julius of the Sharks and Leinster’s Garry Ringrose were also very good at the weekend.
12 Jude Postlethwaite (Ulster): Losing Stuart McCloskey recently was a blow but the youngster stepped into his shoes superbly as the Belfast-based outfit managed to overcome Connacht in Galway. Postlethwaite doesn’t quite have as much heft as McCloskey but he is still a sizeable unit and threw it around during their 17-7 victory.
11 Blair Murray (Scarlets): The lightning quick wing has settled in superbly since moving to Llanelli from New Zealand and he once again showed his class on New Year’s Day, touching down twice as the Scarlets eased past the Dragons. Murray made his Wales debut in the Autumn Nations Series and is surely set for more game time as he saw off the Stormers’ Seabelo Senatla to be included in the Team of the Week.
Edging ahead in Ireland fly-half battle?
10 Sam Prendergast (Leinster): A tough call with Dan Edwards (Ospreys), Jordan Hendrikse (Sharks) and Sam Costelow (Scarlets) all having fine games, you can’t fail to be impressed by Ireland’s rising star. Despite all the attention, he continues to perform well and dictated the game nicely in the big derby against Munster. It was a shame, however, that he did not go up against his rival for the Ireland shirt, Jack Crowley, who was rested.
9 Paul de Wet (Stormers): Like his brother Jordan, Jaden Hendrikse also had a good game for the Sharks, but De Wet came on for Herschel Jantjies after half-an-hour and inspired his side to a much-needed triumph in their South African derby. His performance off the bench was simply remarkable as he set up two of the Stormers’ four tries in their 24-20 win. As a result, Hendrikse, Nathan Doak (Ulster) and Reuben Morgan-Williams (Ospreys) miss out.
8 Caelan Doris (Leinster): The Irish province may have changed their game plan slightly but it has certainly not hampered Ireland’s all-action number eight, who continues to produce week after week. Doris was pushed hard by Ulster’s James McNabney, but the Leinster star was once again irrepressible in their success over Munster.
7 Luke Crosbie (Edinburgh): It was a pretty turgid derby between Scotland’s best but in some ways that suited the openside, who was able to use his close quarter skills to great effect. There was a fierce battle for the seven jersey with Ulster’s Nick Timoney Leinster’s Josh van der Flier and the Scarlets’ Josh Macleod all having fine games, but Crosbie was excellent around the field for Edinburgh as they gained some revenge for their heavy defeat the previous weekend.
6 James Botham (Cardiff): Considering their opponents were down a player for 40 minutes, it was not the greatest performance by the Welsh capital side, but individually Botham continued his fine form in the 13-13 draw. The 26-year-old has had a good season and on this performance may well take Wales’ blindside shirt for the Six Nations.
Dominant set-piece and big carries
5 Sam Lousi (Scarlets): Another superb shift from the lock, who roamed around in the loose, making 40 metres and the most line breaks of anybody with three, while he was also good in the tight. Lousi’s sizeable frame was very useful in the scrum, too, as the Scarlets controlled the set-piece battle.
4 James Ryan (Leinster): As former Ireland hooker and respected pundit Bernard Jackman recently stated, Leinster under Jacques Nienaber just love bashing people nowadays and Ryan is leading the charge. Not previously renowned for his physicality, despite being a good carrier and defender, the Ireland second-row has stepped it up this season and was utterly relentless against Munster.
3 Frans Malherbe (Stormers): There were some fine scrummaging efforts from Leinster’s Rabah Slimani and the Ospreys’ Tom Botha, who dominated their respective loosehead opponents, but Malherbe managed to get the better of Ox Nche in the Stormers’ victory over the Sharks. Considering it was just his second game back after injury, the Springboks prop was impressively dominant.
2 Marnus van der Merwe (Scarlets): The dynamic hooker has been an excellent addition to the Welsh region’s ranks and he arguably produced his best display of the campaign on New Year’s Day. Van der Merwe executed his set-piece work to a tee but it was obviously the barnstorming carries that stood out as he barrelled over Dragons defenders.
1 Gareth Thomas (Ospreys): Leinster’s Andrew Porter ‘experiment’ certainly worked as he came on as replacement to great effect, but Thomas was key to the Ospreys’ draw against Cardiff. The scrum gave them a platform in the first half and also helped them to remain in the game when James Fender had been sent-off just shy of the interval.
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/urc-team-of-the-week-springboks-powerhouse-impressively-dominant-since-injury-return-as-irelands-rising-star-lays-down-six-nations-marker
