1 – Ellis Genge (Leicester)
Genge again was so troublesome in the loose and was also really dominant in the scrum for most of the game.
2 – Jack Yeandle (Exeter)
Yeandle was very consistent with his set-piece work in the lineout, ran some good lines, produced a wonderful move which nearly lead to Jack Nowell scoring a try.
3 – Biyi Alo (Worcester)
Arguably the Premiership’s heaviest player, Alo was one of the few players in a Worcester shirt that impressed on Friday night, scoring a try which means he has scored twice in his two appearances so far.
4 – David Ribbans (Northampton)
In his first start for the club, Ribbans was excellent and thoroughly deserved his man-of-the-match award. He scored two tries to help Saints to a bonus-point victory over Bath.
5 – James Horwill (Harlequins)
On Sunday, the Australian proved why he is Harlequins’ club captain. Horwill was so consistent around the field and leading his team to a famous away victory over Wasps.
6 – Mike Williams (Leicester)
Williams reminded us all of his ball-carrying ability on Saturday, earning hard yards for Leicester and some nice clean breaks to make him Man-of-the-Match and help Leicester get their first win of the season.
7 – Sam Underhill (Bath)
In his debut performance for Bath, Underhill was so great around the park on Friday night especially in defence, putting in big hit after big hit and was solid at the breakdown too. I think he could be the “heir” to the legend that is Neil Back.
8 – Sam Simmonds (Exeter)
In his second appearance for my team of the week, Simmonds was very good on Friday night with two typically strong carries over the line in Exeter’s thrashing of Worcester on Friday. If he keep his form going, I think he deserves an England call-up very soon.
9 – Ben Youngs (Leicester)
Youngs had moments of brilliant quick-thinking on Saturday, producing his typical tap-and-go try and another try from the base of the ruck. With the pack behind most of the time, he produced some quick ball which allowed us to see glimpses of Leicester’s potential going forward.
10 – Marcus Smith (Harlequins)
At the age of just 18, Smith orchestrated his side really well with some lovely kicking out of hand, switch plays, offloads and kicked 14 points to help Quins get an important away victory over Wasps and receive man-of-the-match. With a great mentor in Nick Evans, he could definitely go far but needs to be looked after.
11 – Marland Yarde (Harlequins)
In front of the England head coach Eddie Jones, Yarde scored a superb try and even more impressively denied Marcus Watson a score in the corner. Solid for the rest of the game.
12 – Owen Farrell (Saracens)
The British and Irish Lion contributed 19 points to Saracens’ 29-7 win over Newcastle Falcons. Farrell also produced some nice handling and passing skills that have become one of his trademarks.
13 – Matt Smith (Leicester)
Filling the massive hole left by the again injured Manu Tuilagi, Smith, while he won’t bust through defenders quite like Tuilagi, was very solid for Leicester on Saturday and always has been in the Tigers shirt. He is an underrated player and definitely deserves more recognition for his efforts.
14 – Denny Solomona (Sale)
Solomona has returned to action scoring two really good tries to help Sale finally kick-start their campaign and has reminded Eddie Jones that he may deserve a second chance with England.
15 – Mike Brown (Harlequins)
In his record-breaking 283rd appearance for Harlequins, Brown was solid defensively and in the air and also showed his skills as he offloaded the ball in mid-air for Yarde to score. Despite the form of Alex Goode and Anthony Watson, I still think Brown is the No1 choice at fullback for England.
By Jacob Bassford
Underhill looked really good, I’d definitely like to see him take the 7 shirt in the AIs.
Simmonds over Hughes? With the assumption Vunipola is in there, only one more 8 will be in the mix and I still think Hughes is ahead of Simmonds despite his undoubted good form to start the season off. Hughes was very good in Argentina and I’d expect him to stay in the squad.
Mike Brown though? Surely not. I thought he was really poor on Sunday. His ‘offload’ for Yarde’s try was more a tap back infield and his handling outside of that was poor, with several knock ons. He will always be a rock defensively, but England have to look for more than that. Watson needs the 15 shirt in the Autumn.
It’s a bit rich to pick Underhill as one of the best 15 players of the week, and call him the heir to Neil Back on his premiership debut, when his side conceded four tries and scored none.
Would have Collins over Yarde here too and anybody but Mike Brown who was unimpressive on Sunday and should now be yesterday’s man for England.
I would like to think the Neil Back stuff is based on more than one game, although I agree it is slightly premature!
On the game, why would one player not be able to put in a great shift because his team conceded tries? Underhill undoubtedly has a fantastic game in defence, at the breakdown and also offers strong carrying in the tight. More than warrants his place in the team of the week I’d say. What about his performance on Saturday did you think wasn’t good enough?
From these past few games, Marcus Smith has shown he has a lot of potential to be a world class FH. How do you best balance his development? Would you give him a season to just establish himself as a premiership starting 10 or do you start bringing him into England training camps (not necessarily picking him) to give him experience? Or allow him to develop in U20s? NZ are very big on the whole “if they’re good enough, they’re old enough” but at 18 as Jacob mentioned, he has to be looked after to a certain extent.
Probably should let Tim Swiel who is a very good player in his own right and Catrakalis when he comes back from injury play ahead of Smith a few times.
Dan Cole is a glaring commission from this team. Rock solid in the tight, no penalties, 11 tackles, a couple of decent carries and a thorough nuisance at rucks and mauls. Leicester’ s pack were nothing like as effective when he went off. I also thought Danny Care was in outstanding form, and his kicking has improved out of sight.
I have to admit I was scraping a bit with some selections, I chose Simmonds because he scored two tries and a like to be different and select up and coming talent rather than selecting Billy Vunipola just because he returned, I made that mistake having Tuilagi in my 1st Team of the Week. Yes Dan Cole had a good game and I still think he is ahead of Sinckler.
One can’t be “arguably the premiership’s heaviest player”, old bean. One either is heavier than all the others, or is not. It’s not matter for subjectivity.
one, don’t call me old I think I’m the youngest member on my blog.
two I put “arguably” because according to Warrior’s website he is heaviest player in premiership however he says he has lost 4kg which makes Will Skelton, therefore it was much easier to put “arguably”
Usually I call people “young man” and get told off! I can’t win… I’d have gone with “possibly” or “probably”, but I see your point.
EJ has some big calls to make with his back 4. Daly and Watson both need to start with Joseph, May, Brown and Nowell all experienced internationals. Rokundunguni put his hand up last week and Yarde took his try well. Personally I don’t want to see Solomona in white but he’s clearly in EJ’s sights (don’t understand what he offers over Wade though). I suspect we’ll see JJ at 13, Brown at 15 with Daly and Watson on the wings and Nowell on the bench but would like to see both Daly and Watson given a run out at 13 and 15 respectively with May and Roko on the wings. That’s a back 3 with considerable pace!
I like your potential back three there. I would have Slade and Nowell on the bench if Farrell is being rested. I’m still not sure who I would play at 12 if T’eo is rested though?