XV of the Finals

Any regular readers will know that I love to put together a combined XV, and after taking a little more interest in the latter stages of European competition this year for the first time in a while, the plan was to put together a combined XV from the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup finals. Unfortunately—or maybe not as it turned out—I was too busy that week, so with the Premiership and URC finals now also watched, I decided to hang on just a little longer to make it a European competitions’ finals’ XV by also accounting for the Top 14… and then because that wasn’t enough, I held off for 1 more week to also account for the Super Rugby Pacific final, as that meant that my XV would now account for the finals of all rugby’s top tier men’s club competitions. So for those who have missed some of the finals, what happened?

• Sergio Parisse ended his career on the high of a Challenge Cup victory as Toulon overcame a number of injuries during the match to overpower Glasgow
• Leinster came flying out the blocks with 3 early tries, only for La Rochelle to fight back and clinch victory in arguably one of the greatest Champions Cup finals in memory
• A spirited Munster side ended the season with 6 away matches on the bounce and overcame an early intercept try as they defeated the Stormers to win the United Rugby Championship
• Saracens’ championship experience saw them outlast a powerful Sale side for their first Premiership Rugby title since their relegation for breaching the salary cap
• La Rochelle were denied the double (and their first Top 14 title) as Romain Ntamack’s late try saw Toulouse emerge victorious
• The Crusaders said farewell to head coach Scott Robertson (who will be taking over as head coach of the All Blacks following the World Cup) as they overcame a powerful but ill-disciplined Chiefs side for yet another Super Rugby Pacific title

And so it is time to bid farewell to the club season by picking the 15 men who make my Team of the tournament. Let me know how my picks compare to yours!

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So without further ado, the players who make up my Combined XV are:

1) Tamaiti Williams: The 22-year-old has just been called up for the All Black’s Super Rugby campaign and showed why with an impressive performance. With limited scrums, the young loosehead was able to focus on his play in the loose, where he carried hard and used his size to become an immovable object over the ruck while claiming a vital turnover.

2) Dan Sheehan: Firmly establishing himself as one of the best and most exciting hookers in world rugby. Very few hookers could have replicated his efforts for his 2 early tries, while he remained a dynamic and dangerous performer until finally being removed with 2 minutes left.

3) Uini Atonio: One of the behemoths that Ronan O’Gara uses to devastating effect. Scrums hard and carries even harder. Used his size to good effect to help batter both Leinster and Toulouse.

4 & 5) Scott Barrett & Will Skelton: The Crusaders skipper put in a huge second half performance. Carried hard as always, but also came up with a crucial lineout steal in his own 22 and used his dynamism to make a number of important tackles on the nimble and pacy backs in the Chiefs backfield. Meanwhile, Will Skelton was putting in performances that will have made it hard for Eddie Jones to ignore, using his size and power to carry the hard yards and having a huge impact entering breakdowns with force.

6) Levani Botia: Surprisingly given we’ve created this squad from 6 matches, nobody at blindside really stood out enough to secure a spot on this list, so Levani Botia takes the spot after just missing out on the  shirt. Did give away a few penalties as he played on the edge, but carried hard in both of La Rochelle’s matches, while he forced Leinster to account for him at the breakdown, neutralising the impact of Josh van der Flier.

7) Charles Ollivon: Rightly saw his try disallowed for being offside at a lineout, but this showed his alertness as well as his handling skills. Carries hard but comes alive in a bit of space and uses his huge hands to get offloads away to his support men.

8) Grégory Alldritt: Arguably one of the hardest positions to pick. Parisse was instrumental in his swansong, Gavin Coombes was vital for putting Munster on the front foot, but Alldritt gets the vote here. Carries hard, is a constant threat at the breakdown but also does the most amazing job of presenting the ball back at every breakdown when tackled to allow quick ball.

9) Baptiste Serin: You always want your scrum half to be pulling the strings in a game, but such was Serin’s performance in his 40 minutes on the pitch that he gets the nod here. He didn’t just pull the strings for his team but was the ultimate puppet master. That France can have both Dupont and Serin feels almost unfair on other teams.

10) Owen Farrell: Special mention to Jack Crowley whose overcame his inexperience to direct Munster to victory in front of a partisan South African crowd, but Owen Farrell gets the nod after pulling the strings for Saracens. Appears to play with much more freedom and happiness compared to when in an England shirt, and that really does bring out the best in him.

11) Leicester Fainga’anuku: Gabin Villière was fantastic for Toulon but injury limited him to just 40 minutes which opened the door for Toulon’s newest wing Fainga’anuku. Carried hard and smart throughout to put the Crusaders attack on the front foot, while in defence he came up with a number of crucial turnovers,including the match-winner. It’s a shame that at just 23, the Rugby World Cup could be the last we see of him on the international stage (though he would become eligible for Tonga in time for the 2027 tournament).

12) Jonathan Danty: His yellow card towards the end of the Champions Cup final certainly made things closer than many would have liked, but beyond that he was so impressive. Can always be trusted to carry hard in attack and front up in defence, while proving a nightmare for the opposition at the breakdown. His try against Leinster helped turn the momentum in La Rochelle’s favour.

13) Santiago Chocobares: It’s been a couple of years since he was capped by the Pumas, but the 24-year-old is maturing as a player and must be close to a World Cup spot. Did a great job to front up against La Rochelle’s physical attack, and took his opportunity when it came to score the opening try against the run of play.

14) Emoni Narawa: Another year, another breakout talen added to the All Blacks’ ranks. Narawa was arguably one of the stars of the Super Rugby final and was desperately unlucky to be on the losing team. Took both his tries so well, even if one was chalked off for Damian McKenzie’s inability to stay back 10 metres at a lineout, and also showed up well on both sides of the kicking game.

15) Cheslin Kolbe: Shaun Stevenson almost stole this spot with a great performance for the Chiefs, but Kolbe’s performance stuck with me. Did his usual in attack, but what really stood out was his ferocious defence towards the end, with a pair of brilliant man-and-ball tackles on Kyle Steyn just 5 out from the Toulon try line.

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