Form Ireland XV From Weekend's Action

Form Ireland XV From Weekend's Action

The PRO14 returned in Ireland with a bang!!

Leinster and Munster produced an excellent game which the former edged by two points while Connacht trumped Ulster 26-20 in another fantastic encounter.

Ulster's pursuit of a first Guinness PRO14 title since 2005/06 hit a snag as in their penultimate match of the regular season at the Aviva Stadium. The day before Connacht piped Ulster, Leinster stretched their winning run to 22 matches with a thrilling 27-25 victory against rivals Munster in a game that went down to the wire.

After the two classic encounters, we take a look at the form Ireland XV based purely on the performances from the first round back since the return of the competition.

15. Jordan Larmour - Leinster


While Shane Daly had an excellent game for Munster at fullback, Larmour was the standout fullback from the weekend's action.

He was solid in all facets of the game made over 40 running metres and beat five defenders in a solid performance with minimal errors.


Jacob Stockdale was also excellent for Ulster at fullback making it a close call between the two.

14. Andrew Conway - Munster

Two well-taken tries from the Munster winger who was also excellent on defence and under the high ball. 

Conway battled to get into space with Leinster defending well but he made the most of his opportunities in the loss.

13. Garry Ringrose - Leinster

While Chris Farrell was named man of the match in the clash against Leinster, we have opted for his opposite number in our form XV.

Ringrose was sublime on both sides of the ball and played a major role in the win over Munster.

The battle between Farrell and Ringrose was one of the standout head to heads of the weekend with Tom Farrell also enjoying a fine outing on Sunday.

12. Bundee Aki - Connacht

Bundee Aki marked his 100th Connacht game with a powerful performance that has become somewhat of a norm from Aki since his moved to the club in 2014.

A game filled with big hits and strong carries, Aki does just enough to edge Robbie Henshaw and Stuart McCloskey to a place in the side with Andy Farrell spoilt with choice at inside centre.

11. Keith Earls - Munster

Incredibly close between James Lowe and Keith Earls with the veteran international getting the edge over the recently qualified flyer.

Both players dotted down for tries in their clash on Saturday with Earls brilliantly finishing in the corner while Lowe was on the end of some lovely link up play.

Alex Wooten was also excellent on his Connacht debut but Earls enjoyed a more rounded performance than the rest.

Lowe missed more tackles than the Munster man while he was also charged down from a clearance kick with Earls also chasing Murray's kicks well

10. Jonathan Sexton - Leinster

Jack Carty put on a show to lead Connacht to victory over Ulster but Jonathan Sexton showed his class the day before to secure a place in the side.

The Irish captain hit the ground running following the lockdown nailing all of his kicks setting up Lowe's try and was excellent throughout before Ross Byrne closed out the game.

9. Kieran Marmion - Connacht

Andy Farrell will be pleased by the performances produced by the scrum-halves this weekend. John Cooney didn't hit the highs he did before lockdown but was solid for 40 minutes while Craig Casey came off the bench and picked up the tempo well for Munster after Conor Murray's performance before then laying the platform for Casey to strike. Murray's kicking game once again came to the fore as Munster were able to regain possession from his kicks on multiple occasions. 

Luke McGrath also had a strong outing for Leinster but the scrumhalf of the weekend was the Connacht man who could force his way back into the Irish set up once again. He kept the pace of the Connacht attack well forming the lethal partnership with Jack Carty. Marmion grabbed a try for himself, kicked well, assisted a try and defended excellently. 

1. Cian Healy  - Leinster

Denis Buckley and Eric O'Sullivan had notable games on Sunday while Jeremey Loughman did well in a prolonged effort for a loosehead but Healy was the standout on return.

He scrummaged well and got the job down both on attack and defence as well as at ruck time and added a try.

2. Dave Heffernan - Connacht

Dave Heffernan was recalled to the Ireland squad during the Six Nations this year and continued the form that led to a recall on Sunday.

He hit his jumper with all of his lineout darts and was extremely busy around the park.

He made more tackles (18) and carries (15) than any other Connacht player and was busier on defence and attack than any other Irish rake this weekend.

Elsewhere, Ronan Kelleher and Niall Scannell were solid on Saturday with the former struggling with Munster's excellent defensive lineout.

3. Andrew Porter - Leinster

With Tadgh Furlong missing the clash on Saturday due to injury, Porter stepped up to power Leinster to victory.

Porter had a solid game in the scrums and got around the park well with Finlay Bealham also impressing for Connacht.

4. Ryan Baird - Leinster

Not too many options at no.4 but that does not make Baird's performance against Munster any less impressive.

He did the basics well while also making a great catch over his head from a well placed Munster kick, did well to link up with Jonathan Sexton to put James Lowe away and got through a mountain of work.

The kind of game that won't go unnoticed. 

5. Devin Toner - Leinster

Toner may have spent 10 minutes of his game from the bench in the sin bin but the gigantic second rower certainly made a case for a start next week.

He was busy around the park, hit the rucks hard and got through a ton of work in a short period of time.

He also did well to end Munster's final attack by intercepting a loose pass by JJ Hanrahan.

6. Caelon Doris - Leinster

A powerful and busy performance on the side of the scrum by the youngster sees him edge Peter O'Mahony by the slightest of margins.

Doris was a touch more accurate on defence with both players grabbing a turnover while O'Mahony was better in the lineouts.

A close call but there are plenty of positives from their clash on Saturday for Andy Farrell to consider with Doris potentially playing on the side of the scrum come the resumption of the Six Nations.

Finally, Ulster's Nick Timoney also had an excellent game against Connacht.

7. Jordi Murphy - Ulster

Van der Flier hardly left a blade of grass untouched at the Aviva on Saturday getting through a mammoth amount of work in just under an hour but Jordi Murphy gets the nod for his game on Sunday.

Like van der Flier, Murphy was absolutely everywhere making 22 tackles and forcing a turnover.

He carried strongly and was a menace at the breakdown. The kind of performance that could get him another look into the Ireland squad. 

8. CJ Stander - Munster



CJ Stander was one of the form looseforwards before rugby was brought to a halt and he picked up from where he left off on Sunday.

He was brutally effective in all facets of the game and was a particularly brilliant over the ball winning five turnovers.

Jack Conan was solid in his first game since the Rugby World Cup but Stander was superb throughout and one of the top performers this weekend.

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