1. Yacouba Camara (Toulouse)
The 20-year old flanker is prodigiously talented and has been getting plenty of game time for Toulouse this season. At six foot four he is a rangy runner and a fierce workhorse who loves a tackle. Several of Toulouse’s back row regulars are injured, and even those that aren’t haven’t been performing particularly well, so expect to see plenty of Camara over the coming few weeks. He was part of the French under-20s side that completeted a grand slam in the Six Nations this year, and we would not be surprised if he lined up in a full size French jersey at some point in the near future.
2. Stuart McCloskey (Ulster)
McCloskey’s rise to prominence has shocked even Ulster fans this season, it is fair to say. A relative unknown coming into the campaign, with just two starts and two substitute appearances to his name, he has excelled in his three starts so far. A hard-running centre who also possesses good hands, he has stolen the focus away from the likes of Jared Payne outside him, and his form is such that more established players like Luke Marshall and Darren Cave are likely to miss out on European game time this season. With the retirement of Ireland’s best ever centre over the summer, there was always going to be extra focus on the midfield in the country this season – but McCloskey’s potential inclusion in the Ireland squad is the very definition of a bolter.
3. Fraser Balmain (Leicester Tigers)
Long-term injuries to Logovi’i Mulipola and Dan Cole have forced “The Baltrain”, as he is better known to those around the Leicester set-up, into five starts already this season. The young tighthead has held his own, for the most part, although he has suffered as part of a Tigers tight five that has been injury-ravaged to the extreme. With the other two tighthead options still crocked, Balmain will be looking at plenty game time over the upcoming European fortnight. It will be a good test of his progress but it is worth remembering that he is still only 22 years old, and that props tend to peak later in their careers.
4. Elliot Daly (Wasps)
Daly is well-known to Premiership fans by now. He has a blistering turn of pace and some of the tries he has scored in the past couple of seasons have been breathtaking. Not only that, but he has a ‘howitzer’ boot (it’s a cliché, but one that certainly applies here) that is also unerringly accurate. He’s an accomplished fullback, but Daly’s best position lies in the centres, where he can get his hands on the ball more often and cause the first up defenders problems. His partnership with gain-line-busting Samoan Alapati Leuia has already begun to flourish, and expect it to cause the members of their European pool plenty of problems too.
5. Finn Russell (Glasgow Warriors)
Competition for places amongst the Glasgow fly-half ranks is fierce, with Russell making his first start of the season just last week against Ulster. While the side lost Russell went well, nailing all three of his kicks and threatening the gainline with ball in hand. The playmaker is still only 22 but has performed well in high pressure environments, impressing in particular last season against Leinster. He did enough in the second half of the season to win his first Scotland cap over the summer, and with the Autumn Internationals just around the corner he’ll be raring to impress over the European fortnight (if selected) to press his claims for selection.
6. Dan Baker (Ospreys)
The Ospreys have made a blistering start to the season and their young number eight has been one of the standout performers. He is an explosively powerful carrier, and seems to specialise in scoring from the base of scrums close to the try line. Another 22-year old on this list, he has two caps to his name for Wales already and although Taulupe Faletau is a Gatland favourite, Baker will surely add to them this autumn. Before then, watch out for him making an impact in a European pool that is eminently winnable for the Ospreys, who are the only unbeaten side across Europe so far this season.
By Jamie Hosie
Follow Jamie on Twitter: @jhosie43
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
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Elliot Daly is a really exciting player, and will be fun to watch in Europe, but he has two problems, regarding his potential England future.
The first is, that old chestnut, versatility: he does seem to be moved around a lot at Wasps, and it’s hard to tell whether his best position is at centre or fullback. It appears that he’s being used mainly as a centre, of late, but that brings us to the second issue: there are SO many good young centres on the scene, now, 12Trees, Burrell, and Manu have been at the forefront of England’s plans over the last few seasons, and now the Bath duo of Eastmond and Joseph are really lighting up the premiership, and you get the feeling that Lancaster will have to unleash the duo in the near future. Add to that the undeniable potential of Henry Slade and his Exeter companion, Hill, and you do get the sense that Daly’s chances are slipping.
Maybe, the Champions Cup will give Daly a chance to remind everyone of his talents, but I’m sure that the aforementioned players will be eager to show off, too.
I preferred him at fullback, he picked better running lines. At centre he goes for the outside arc almost every time, trying to then offload in the tackle, he very very rarely runs straight and passes the ball along. Which is a shame, because when you have even better finishers outside of him, it would work very well. He needs to massively develop his passing game if he wants to start threatening (it will keep the defences guessing a bit more too).