Premiership Team Of The Week - Round 16

Another round of Premiership rugby as we were treated to midweek rugby!

Tuesday's action saw Sale down Wasps at the Ricoh while Bristol fell to Exeter in a thrilling encounter that went right down to the wire.

Wednesday produced more exciting action with Leicester Tigers battling past London Irish with Worcester surging to a huge first half lead to down Harlequins and Saracens cruising past Gloucester.

Here is our team of the week from the midweek action.

1. Beno Obano - Bath

Another round of action and another appearance in our team of the week for Ben Obano.

Eddie Jones would have loved to see the potential England debutant taking 100+ test All Black Owen Franks apart at Franklins Gardens.

Obano has been in sensational form for Bath and beats Ross Harrison to a place in the side after his solid display against Wasps where he got through a ton of work making all 16 of his attempted tackles in 64 minutes.

2. Tom Woolstencroft - Saracens

A hattrick for the Saracens' hooker as Gloucester struggled to front up to the Sarries pack.

Woolstencroft was excellent in the set pieces and was rewarded with three tries to guide Saracens to a bonus-point victory.

3. Nick Schonert - Worcester Warriors

Worcester's dominance in the first half against Harlequins was largely down to their pack taking complete control of the game.

Schonert played a large role in that with his strong ball carries, solid defence and solid set piece work.

4. Ed Holmes - Bristol Bears

Bristol's second-rower was outstanding against Exeter Chiefs putting in a pivotal performance in the lineout claiming four steals and was excellent on defence making 15 tackles in an overall great performance.

5. Graham Kitchener - Worcester Warriors

Worked wonderfully in tandem with Anton Bresler and Ted Hill as Worcester's lineout produced the goods with their lineout producing most of their tries on Wednesday.

6. Jannes Kirsten - Exeter Chiefs

Jack Willis was superb once again for Wasps but he narrowly misses out in our team of the week with Kirsten starring in clash against Bristol.

With Exeter fielding a 'second string' on Tuesday, Kirsten took the fight to the Bristol putting in a heft shift on both sides of the ball.

He made 13 carries and 11 tackles while also getting stuck into more than his fair share of rucks. 

7. Ben Curry - Sale Sharks

While brother Tom started the first few games back, Ben was given his chance in the starting XV and took it with both hands.

He forced 5 turnovers against Wasps and made a massive 16 tackles missing just one. 

8. Zach Mercer - Bath

The candidates for the no.8 jersey was left to the final game of the midweek with both Zach Mercer and Teimana Harrison putting on a show with Eddie Jones in attendance.

It was hard to split the pair with Mercer's work at the breakdown giving him the slightest edge with both players excelling on attack and defence.

A notable mention for Nathan Hughes who also had a great game for Bristol Bears on Tuesday. 

9. Sam Hidalgo-Clyne - Exeter Chiefs

A simply superb game from the Scottish halfback who produced a man of the match performance to guide Exeter to victory.

The nippy halfback kicked well, made 60 running metres while scoring and assisting a try.

10. AJ MacGinty - Sharks

An assured and controlled performance from the American International as he guided Sale Sharks to victory.

MacGinty kicked superbly slotting all five penalties and came up with a try assist. An all round strong performance from the Sale pivot to make our team of the week.

11. Taqele Naiyaravoro - Northampton Saints

A threat throughout, Naiyaravoro threatened everytime he touched the ball. 

The battering ram winger edges fellow big back Nemani Nadolo with the pair having simiarlly destructive games on Wednesday.

A notbale mention for Olly Woodburn and Gloucester's Louis Rees-Zammit with the latter scoring a blinder against Saracens.

12. Rohan Janse van Rensburg - Sale Sharks

A strong showing on his return to action for the Sale Sharks. 

Van Rensburg did his job well smashing it up into the faces of the Wasps' defence and did little wrong and won three turnovers at the breakdown.

13. Phil Dollman - Exeter Chiefs

Dollman rolled back the years with a solid outing for Exeter Chiefs as he kept Semi Radradra quiet for a large portion of the first half while also scoring a well-taken try.

Linked up well with his backs, defended well too and won a couple of turnovers before making way for the young Tom Wyatt. 

Semi Radradra did manage to put in another excellent game while Ollie Lawerence was superb once again before his night was cut short with an injury.

14. Luke Morahan - Bristol Bears

A threat throughout against Exeter, Morahan continued his fine form making 80 running metres beating two defenders and grabbing two clean breaks on Tuesday.

The Australian also grabbed a try with his opposite number Tom O'Flaherty also having an excellent outing.

15. Charles Piutau - Bristol Bears

Our team is completed by the former All Black who starred for Bristol making 81 running metres and beat 4 defenders on his way to making three clean breaks in just over an hour.

His presence on the pitch was sorely missed in the latter stages of the game for the hosts with his opposite Josh Hodge impressing on debut and Bath's Tom de Glanville also having a solid game against Northampton.