Following another enthralling weekend of United Rugby Championship (URC) action, here is the Planet Rugby Team of the Week for Round Four.
After clinching a deserved victory over Munster at Croke Park, Leinster lead the way with five representatives in our side while Edinburgh and the Bulls are next best with three players apiece.
URC Team of the Week, Round Four
15 Willie le Roux (Bulls): The veteran Springbok was in excellent form for the men from Pretoria during their victory against the Ospreys in Swansea. Le Roux proved a real handful on attack as he kept the Welsh region’s defence on their toes throughout. The 35-year-old showed some deft touches with the ball in hand and a delightful chip kick was gathered by Bok speedster Kurt-Lee Arendse who crossed for a deserved try. Elsewhere, Rhyno Smith of Benetton also impressed.
14 Darcy Graham (Edinburgh): The Scotland international was in superb form for Edinburgh as they claimed their first victory of the 2024/25 URC campaign in style with an impressive bonus-point victory over the Stormers at Hive Stadium. The 27-year-old’s quick feet and searing pace tested the men from the Cape’s defence but they struggled to contain him and he eventually crossed for one of his team’s five tries.
13 Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors): The defending champions continued with their superb recent form as they cruised to a 33-3 triumph over Zebre Parma at Scotstoun and Jones caught the eye with an outstanding attacking display. The Scotland international came to the fore with several brilliant moments with ball in hand and was rewarded with a brace of tries for his efforts. He comes in ahead of the Bulls’ young Springbok Canan Moodie, who also played well against the Ospreys.
12 Jamie Osborne (Leinster): The promising utility back was up against one of Munster’s best attacking players in Alex Nankivell but Osborne gave a good account of himself. The 22-year-old’s defence was of a high standard throughout and he also showed glimpses of his attacking skills, especially in the build-up to Hugo Keenan’s try when he caught the eye with quick hand speed.
11 Kurt-Lee Arendse (Bulls): The Bulls will be without the Springbok flyer’s services from December on a six-month sabbatical when he joins a Japanese club and he showed Pretoria-based outfit’s fans what they will be missing as he crossed for two well-taken tries in their victory over the Ospreys in Swansea.
10 Jacob Umaga (Benetton): The Sharks came off second best in their clash with the Italian outfit in Treviso and it was largely due to the efforts of the one-Test England international. Umaga caught the eye with his excellent playmaking skills but also performed brilliantly as a place-kicker and finished with a 13-point contribution after slotting five conversions and a penalty.
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9 Gareth Davies (Scarlets): After losing their first three URC matches, there was plenty of pressure on the Scarlets ahead of their Welsh derby against Cardiff. Despite playing away from home, the Scarlets got the job done and Davies led the way with a brace of five-pointers. His service to his outside backs was also solid throughout and he edges out Jamison Gibson-Park and Embrose Papier who also played well for Leinster and the Bulls respectively.
Solid-looking pack of forwards
8 Caelan Doris (Leinster): Although the Bulls’ Elrigh Louw was one of his side’s star performers in their win in Swansea, he misses out to Leinster’s new captain who delivered a brilliant all-round performance in his side’s highly anticipated derby with Munster at Croke Park. Doris led by his actions as he took the fight to the Munstermen with a whopping 16 carries, and scored a try in the process, but also put his body on the line on defence and finished with 17 tackles made.
7 Ben Muncaster (Edinburgh): The young tearaway was one of Edinburgh’s heroes as they bounced back from a humiliating defeat to the Lions to cruise to a deserved home victory over the Stormers. Muncaster was brilliant on both sides of the ball but it’s his attacking play which helped his team secure their maiden win in the tournament and he also scored a brace of tries.
6 Max Deegan (Leinster): The 28-year-old came off the replacements bench midway through the opening half when Jack Conan was injured and made his mark with a fine performance. Deegan put his body on the line on defence but also impressed as a ball carrier and in the breakdown battle. In other action Jamie Ritchie also impressed for Edinburgh.
5 Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh): Munster’s skipper Tadhg Beirne was arguably his team’s best player in their defeat to Leinster but he missed out to Edinburgh’s captain Gilchrist, who also shone in their win over the Stormers. Gilchrist emptied the tank on defence, was a valuable source of lineout possession and scored one of the Scottish capital outfit’s tries.
4 RG Snyman (Leinster): Benetton’s Niccolo Cannone is unlucky to miss out as he put in a huge shift in his side’s home triumph over the Sharks but we could not omit Snyman, who was one of Leinster’s best performers in their win over his former team, Munster. As usual, his offloading game was of a high standard, while he also put in some big hits on defence and crossed for a crucial try which clinched a bonus point for his side.
3 Tadhg Furlong (Leinster): The experienced Ireland international delivered a superb all-round performance in his side’s triumph over Munster. The 31-year-old stood up well in the scrums, was a willing ball carrier and also did his bit on defence during a 65-minute stint on the field.
2 Johnny Matthews (Glasgow Warriors): Much has been said about Matthews’ try-scoring ability and he once again crossed the whitewash off the back of a lineout drive against Zebre Parma. However, apart from that he also did well in the execution of his core duties before being replaced in the 54th minute and comes in ahead of the Bulls’ Springbok hooker Johan Grobbelaar.
1 Gerhard Steenekamp (Bulls): Although he was not as dominant as the previous week against Ulster, the Springboks front-rower was once again a crucial player for the Bulls in their win over the Ospreys. The 27-year-old’s scrummaging was once again of a high standard while he also did his bit on defence before leaving the field after 52 minutes.
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