Champions Cup Team of the quarter-finals

Champions Cup Team of the quarter-finals

Following a truly outstanding quarter-final round of the Champions Cup we select our Team of the Week.

1. Cyril Baille - Toulouse

Baille saved a certain try following Holmes' red card and held his own against the mountain of a man in Ben Tameifuna in the scrums. 

He got around the park well and did enough to beat the Ulster's busy loosehead Eric O'Sullivan to a place in the side. 

2. Jamie Goerge - Saracens


George was outstanding for Saracens as they blew Glasgow away in their quarter final. The England hooker did everything right, finding his jumper at lineout time, was solid in defence and threw some lovely passes adding to his carrying game.

He beats the Irish pair of Rob Herring and Sean Cronin to a place in the side with Herring making an impressive 23 tackles in 65 minutes. 


Stuart McInally also had a very good game against Munster. 



3. Marty Moore - Ulster

Ulster's front row had an incredible game against a powerful Leinster pack. Moore was particularly strong making 17 tackles and held his own against Cian Healy. 

His opposite number Tadgh Furlong was also impressive while Cedate Gomes Sa caused a number of problems for Toulouse. 

4. James Ryan - Leinster

Yet another outstanding performance by the young Leinster lock. He was all over the pitch making numerous strong carries and got stuck into a resilient Ulster pack. He ended the match with an impressive tally of 27 tackles and 21 carries. 

5. Tadhg Beirne - Munster

An outstanding performance at the breakdown and a superb workrate throughout sees Beirne edge Kieran Treadwell and Maro Itoje to a place in the side. 

Beirne came up with a number of pivotal turnovers that changed the game and ultimately helped Munster see off Edinburgh. 

6. Peter O'Mahony - Munster

O'Mahony worked brilliantly with Beirne to stifle Edinburgh's attacks and was solid lineout option as per usual. 

He made all 17 of his attempted tackles and did well to beat the likes of Nick Timoney and Rynhardt Elstadt to spot in our side.

7. Jordie Murphy - Ulster

Quite a performance against his former side by the Ulsterman. He was excellent in the contact areas and stifled a few Leinster attacks with his work in the rucks.

He combined brilliantly with the rest of his back row, who were all key to Ulster's strong showing against Leinster. 

Murphy racked up 22 tackles while also making 17 carries. 

8. Jack Conan - Leinster

There was no shortage of options with a number of no.8s having outstanding games this weekend. Marcell Coetzee was emphatic for just under an hour for Ulster, Bill Mata was outstanding against Munster while Jerome Kaino shined for Toulouse. 

Not mention Arno Botha's efforts off the bench against Edinburgh. However, Conan's efforts gets him the nod.

The Leinsterman powered through his work making 16 carries, 16 tackles and failed to miss a single tackle. He also made 67 running metres in game where both defences were tight.

He broke through the Ulster defence to set up a pivotal try for Adam Byrne and managed to beat 6 defenders.



9. Antoine Dupont - Toulouse

A threat around the fringes, solid on defence, flawless with the boot and a fantastic support runner. Dupont showed all of that and more as he guided his side to victory following Zach Holmes' red card. 

He shifted seamlessly from scrumhalf to flyhalf and was on hand to grab a brace!



10. Ross Byrne - Leinster

A Johnny Sexton like performance from the Leinster flyhalf who put in one of the biggest performances of his career. He managed the game brilliantly put some super cross kicks in and slotted the match winning penalty before hobbling off with cramp. 

11. Keith Earls - Munster

Earls finished off both tries in Munster's win over Edinburgh, doing superbly well to catch the Scottish side off guard for the first.

Earls was excellent in all other facets of the game and sees off Maxime Medard for a place in the side.

12. Brad Barritt - Saracens

The Saracens captain had another key performance for his side when it mattered. He carried the ball superbly in the midfield, spearheaded the defence and linked up well with his fellow backs.

Unfortunately, the Saracens captain was taken off after he injured his ankle. Elsewhere Romain Ntamack impressed for Toulouse while Stuart McClouskey caused all kinds of problems for Leinster.

13. Sofiane Guitoune - Toulouse

Another hotly contested position with Alex Lozowski and Chirs Farrell impressing for their respective sides but in the end Guitoune's performance against Racing gives him the edge. 

He combined superbly with the Ntamack and his wingers setting up a great try for Dupont in the opening stages. He made a number of clever decisions on attack and marked Virmi Vakatawa well.

14. David Strettle -Saracens

The veteran winger cracks the nod ahead of Racing 92's Teddy Thomas and Leinster's Adam Byrne. 

Thomas should flashes of brilliance for Racing racking up over 100 running metres but his poor clearance that led to a Toulouse try and his yellow card counted against him.

Byrne was excellent for Leinster against Jacob Stockdale. Billy Burns tested the winger on a number of occassion and he contested well against the inform Ulster winger.

However, Strettle's brace in Saracens' convincing win sees him claim the jersey. The 35-year-old gained over 70 metres and was in the right place at the right time on attack for Saracens as they cruised to a victory.



15. Liam Williams - Saracens

Edingburgh's Darcy Graham is incredibly unlucky to miss out as too is Toulouse's pocket rocket Cheslin Kolbe. 

The pair were sensational on the counter attack and beat defenders with easy but Williams' overall game was just too good for him to miss out. 

Williams took his Six Nations form into the game and was simply outstanding under the high ball, which earned him his first try beating three Glasgow defenders to score.

He popped up in the right places in attack and was another standout in Saracens win.



In this Article

Latest News