With Round Four of the Premiership done and dusted, Wallaby great David Campese joins us to select his eToro Team of the Week.
Here’s the XV he selected after Round Four of the Premiership, in association with eToro, the official investing and trading partner of Premiership Rugby.
Premiership Team of the Week
15 Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers): An immense day at the back for the big brawny England man as he dominated the airways once again and really impressed me. Rich Lane and Leigh Halfpenny also excelled, with Halfpenny really rising to the occasion as Quins saw off Saracens for the first time in four years, reminding me of his Lions escapades in 2013.
14 Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks): I do like what I see from Roebuck and he’s got all the attributes for Test rugby. The youngster at Saracens, Tobias Elliott, also had a classy outing in defeat, but although he lost, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso is still the man for me in terms of England selection.
13 Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby): Quickly becoming a world-class performer, it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see Lawrence as the Lions 13 in Australia this summer. He’s got it all, both sides of the ball. Sale’s Will Addison is someone who goes under the radar but I thoroughly enjoyed his performance in beating the Falcons.
12 Lennox Anyanwu (Harlequins): England are in desperate need of a proper 12 and Anyanwu’s defence and power are tailor-made for that role. As always, Benhard Janse van Rensburg put in a shift for Bristol and he’s the linchpin of the Bears’ backline.
11 Gabriel Ibitoye (Bristol Bears): Unstoppable with ball in hand, his second-half hat-trick showed exactly why his finishing is so highly rated. Gloucester may have lost to arch-rivals Bath, but Ollie Thorley also caught my eye as he spent the afternoon looking for work.
10 Marcus Smith (Harlequins): A literal toss of a coin between Bath’s Finn Russell and Harlequins’ Smith, who were both pivotal in their respective teams wins. Russell grabbed a try whilst Smith made a couple. On balance, I’m going with Marcus as his performance was against the league leaders, Saracens, but I’d be happy playing outside either of these magicians! A word too for Rob du Preez, as always huge for Sale.
9 Ben Spencer (Bath Rugby): A majestic display of control from the base of the scrum once again from Spencer as his aerial game helped Bath to a thrilling win. Bristol Bears got a great 80 minutes from the nine shirt with both Kieran Marmion and Harry Randall excelling, whilst Will Porter showed me his class for Quins.
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The forwards
8 Tom Willis (Saracens): Willis may have been on the losing side but his sheer athleticism and power in contact was the brightest part of a gloomy day for Sarries. I know I’m being harsh on Tigers’ Olly Cracknell but Willis was exceptional in defeat.
7 Jack Kenningham (Harlequins): A big reason why Harlequins got their win, Kenningham was superb in every aspect of play, whether it be on the floor or in the lineout. Bath’s Miles Reid once again showed us he goes under the radar in terms of Test selection, with Sale’s Ben Curry another who impressed.
6 Ted Hill (Bath): He played a lot of the match at lock, but moved to his usual position once Charlie Ewels came on. I do think England need to have a long look at Hill – he’s the modern flanker, massive, athletic and above all, a consistent try scorer. Tigers’ Hanro Liebenberg had another quality outing as they saw off their old rivals in style at Welford Road.
5 Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers): Chessum’s physicality has really moved up a notch in recent times and his all-action display was at the heart of the Saints’ defeat. Bears’ Joe Batley is another who goes under Steve Borthwick’s radar, whilst Exeter’s Franco Molina was outstanding in a loss against Bristol.
4 Irne Herbst (Harlequins): An absolutely massive defensive shift from the big South African as he enveloped everything wearing a Sarries shirt. Really impressed me and he just sneaks in ahead of Gloucester’s Test Puma Matias Alemanno, who gave everything in defeat.
3 Thomas du Toit (Bath): Every time I review match stats of a Prem game then du Toit features and it was the same this weekend as he delivered a huge performance. Tigers’ Joe Heyes and Dan Cole gave them great go-forward from the tighthead jersey too.
2 Gabriel Oghre (Bristol Bears): Another try-scoring performance from an exceptionally mobile young hooker as he impressed me once again. The old warhorse Julian Montoya was a key cog in the Tigers’ wheel, really contributing to a famous Leicester win.
1 Fin Baxter (Harlequins): Fast becoming a world-class performer, Baxter was immense in every aspect of a prop’s game. He grabs the shirt from another who impressed me, Beno Obano, whilst Val Rapava-Ruskin’s 20-minute cameo showed us how much the Premiership has missed the Gloucester loosehead.
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