Premiership Team of the Week: Barnstorming Bristol Bears rewarded by George Chuter
George Chuter's Premiership Team of the Week, powered by eToro.
Former England and Leicester Tigers hooker George Chuter sits down with Planet Rugby’s Jared Wright to give us his Team of the Round from the recent Premiership action.
We have teamed up with eToro, the official investing and trading partner of Premiership Rugby, to launch a new feature that will see us name a best XV from a famous face after every Premiership round for the remainder of the season.
Last week, Chuter also made his predictions for the round of action and correctly called the winner for four of the five games, with Leicester Tigers’ one-point win over Harlequins being the sole outlier.
So, without further ado, let’s see who Chuter has picked in his selection.
Premiership Team of Round 12
15 Tyrone Green (Harlequins): There is a lot of dog in the way Green plays, and we saw that on Friday, both with and without the ball. He dotted down to give Quins a chance of winning the game, but the conversion was ultimately missed. Similarly, Rich Lane grabbed a clutch try for Bristol, while Josh Hodge had some bright moments for Exeter Chiefs.
14 Ollie Thorley (Gloucester): Scored a wonderful 65 metre try as the Cherry and Whites claimed just their third win of the Premiership season. He was a threat every time he got the ball and defended well. Thorley shifts to the right wing despite the strong performances of Mike Brown and Nick David, among others.
13 Burger Odendaal (Northampton Saints): It’s taken a bit of time for him to settle in at Saints, but we saw the kind of quality player Odendaal is. A Player of the Match performance in the win over Newcastle saw him in inspired form, particularly with the ball in hand. It’s good to see him find his feet.
12 Andre Esterhuizen (Harlequins): There isn’t much subtlety to his game, but he is hugely influential and crucial to their success on attack. He is not a one-trick pony, but he is so physical and abrasive that you can forget about the rest of his game. He showed all his best attributes in the close loss to Leicester. Saracens’ Olly Hartley and Gloucester’s Seb Atkinson also shone over the weekend.
11 Ollie Sleightholme (Northampton Saints): A player I highlighted in the predictions, and he rose to the occasion and made the most of an important start after a host of players linked up with the England squad. The 23-year-old crossed the whitewash and was sharp overall, edging Ollie Hassell-Collins to this shirt.
10 AJ MacGinty (Bristol Bears): Another all-round performance from the American international as he looked like he had everything on a string on Saturday, a world-class operator. Owen Farrell delivered again, scoring 15 points in a classy display; a very good game and massive credit to him and his character following a week that he was dominating the news again.
9 Harry Randall (Bristol Bears): An easy one. The Bears’ number nine looked very, very sharp and is another who is unlucky not to be in the England mix. The nippy scrum-half threatened throughout the game and created chances for his teammates. Tom Whiteley was excellent again for Leicester while Ivan van Zyl linked up brilliantly with Farrell and got his name on the scoresheet.
Barnstorming Bears
8 Juarno Augustus (Northampton Saints): A superb impact off the bench from the South African, who added the grunt and physicality needed in the latter stages of the match to get over a determined Newcastle side. There are several notable mentions in Bath’s Jaco Coetzee, Leicester’s Jasper Wiese and Exeter’s Greg Fisilau.
7 Fitz Harding (Bristol Bears): Much of what Bristol did well against Bath came through their openside flanker, who was incredibly busy and perfectly fits their style of play. He carried well, scored a try, was physical, had good hands and chopped down 19 ball carriers. Lewis Ludlam is one that England will probably come back to at some point after a strong outing, while Guy Pepper impressed again at a time when the league is crying out for young players to put their hands up. Andy Christie also had a fine game for Saracens and is unlucky to miss out.
6 Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints): He has been crucial to the physical side of Saints this season, and him not playing for England has allowed him to quietly get on with his job week in and week out for the club. Another superb shift and another try.
Northampton Saints star Courtney Lawes.
5 Joe Batley (Bristol Bears): Rounded off a stellar try in the game of the weekend as the Bears pack fronted up against the more fancied Bath forwards. Batley was strong in his carries and did a lot of grunt work with the lineout operating well, too.
4 James Dun (Bristol Bears): The Bears combination both make the cut, and rightly so, as they put in the hard yards against Bath. It was great to see Joe Launchbury getting back to near his top form, even if he is getting on a bit, having recovered from his injuries and skippering Quins. Meanwhile, Theo McFarland had another standout game for Saracens.
Harlequins props rewarded
3 Will Collier (Harlequins): The Quins scrum on Friday night was fairly dominant, which is usually the case with Collier packing down at tighthead. The veteran put in another sturdy 64-minute shift around the park, but it is in the set-pieces where he shows his value and did so again. Kyle Sinckler made a point to the England staff with his performance against Bath, while it wasn’t the kind of game for big scrums, the tighthead was solid in the set-piece and was once again good with ball in hand and quite physical in general.
2 George McGuigan (Gloucester): Bristol’s Will Capon was having a standout game before he was forced off the pitch and is still criminally underrated, but McGuigan again proved his quality after highlighting him in the predictions. He was Player of the Match in a crucial win for Gloucester as they snapped a nine-game losing streak in the Premiership. James Hadfield stepped up with Jamie George and Theo Dan away with England as he continued to make the most of his move to Saracens after Jersey Reds’ collapse, while Sam Matavesi was another Saint to stood out.
1 Fin Baxter (Harlequins): Another Quin is rewarded for their strong scrummaging, and Baxter shone once again in the absence of Joe Marler. The 21-year-old is a real prospect up front and was busy around the park again, making 14 tackles and winning a turnover.
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