1 – Greg Bateman (Leicester)
Bateman didn’t score another amazing try on Saturday but was solid in the carry, scrummaged well and also produced a pretty decent kick in a resounding all-round performance.
2 – Tom Youngs (Leicester)
The Tigers captain improved significantly in his lineout throwing and was dominant in almost every tackle he made.
3 – Anthony Perenise (Bath)
Perenise came on in the second half at Wasps and drastically improved Bath’s scrum, and also contributed to 6 tackles.
4 – Joe Launchbury (Wasps)
Launchbury earned a lot of hard yards on Sunday and made some turnovers but couldn’t galvanise his team to beat the determined Bath.
5 – Jonny Hill (Exeter Chiefs)
Filling in the big shoes of Geoff Parling this season, Hill was consistent in the lineout and broke the gainline in the carry. One of the few standouts in a losing Exeter side.
6 – Zach Mercer (Bath)
Mercer put in an impressive shift on Sunday, making 19 tackles and 11 carries. A really exciting prospect for the future.
7 – Sam Underhill (Bath)
Underhill again impressed with his tackling and work at the breakdown, disrupting and denying Wasps’ momentum and quality ball to work with.
8 – Sione Kalamafoni (Leicester)
The Tongan No 8 is beginning to settle at Welford Road and put Exeter on the back foot with some big carries and was strong in defence with thumping tackles and steals.
9 – Faf de Klerk (Sale Sharks)
De Klerk orchestrated Sale’s thrashing of Gloucester with some neat touches, a perfect box-kick for McGuigan to gather and score and a try of his own to top it all off.
10 – George Ford (Leicester)
For the 2nd week running, Ford occupies my flyhalf spot because on Saturday not only his organisation but also his goal-kicking and defence were so good, in great form going into Autumn Internationals.
11 – Byron McGuigan (Sale Sharks)
While Denny Solomona gets all the attention for his tries, you cannot deny that McGuigan is in great finishing form dotting down three superb tries against Gloucester on Friday night.
12 – Juan Pablo Socino (Newcastle)
While his brother was getting the praise last week, it was JP Socino who showed good pace to score a try and was impressive for the rest of the game.
13 – Sam James (Sale)
James ran some lovely lines, produced a nice offload to set up Solomona’s 2nd try and made a good intercept to score his own.
14 – George North (Northampton)
North was very good on Saturday, scoring a powerful try and was strong in every carry and every tackle throughout the game.
15 – Alex Goode (Saracens)
Goode threw a sublime pass for Chris Wyles to score, scored his own try and was solid throughout the rest of the game.
By Jacob Bassford
The slightly worrying thing about this selection is how few current Internationals are really in prime form at present, with a number of them looking jaded and short of rest after summer tours. Good to see Tom Youngs playing well again. He has had a rough time of it both personally and professionally, and showed considerable character throughout. Jonny May looks to have bedded in quickly and must have been close to being picked.
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Following players are in good form.
Front row Genge,
Second Row: Launchbury, Lawes, Itoje
Back Row: Underhill, Wilson, Simmonds
Scrum Half: Spencer, Simpson
Fly Half: Ford, Lozowski
Centre: Slade, Marchant, James, Teo, Daly
Outside Backs: May, Roko, Yarde
Maybe not the first choice players in every position but post Lions tour i think you have to expect a slow start from the tourists
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Not been following the Premiership all that closely, but how many of the Lions tourers are back playing already? In Pro14, we’ve only just really started seeing them come back in the last week.
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I add a few there Leon:
Front row: Cole
Back Row: Robshaw, Clifford, Hughes, Williams
Scrumhalf: Youngs
Back 3: Watson
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Cole maybe
Robshaw typically under the radar but fair enough
Clifford/Williams for a fringe players haven’t done enough for me and outperformed by other back rowers
Hughes fairly average
Watson looks like he needs a rest nowhere near his best
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Think Farrell should be on that list as well. Hasn’t played as much but has been very impressive when he has
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