10 of the 15 spots shared out between the two sides that meet at The RDS this Friday.
Three wins from four matches for the Irish provinces in this weekend’s Champions Cup. Leinster secured a quarter final berth while Ulster are just one more good performance away.
In our Champions Cup Team of the Weekend – selecting from the four provinces and Irish lads playing abroad – there are six from Leinster and four from Ulster.
The weekend was kicked off with Ulster beating Harlequins 34-10 at The Stoop, with John Cooney helping himself to two tries and with big performances (yet again) from Iain Henderson, Sean Reidy and Marcell Coetzee.
Connacht came back from 24-13 behind, with four minutes to play, to beat Gloucester 27-24 thanks to a couple of late, converted tries. Dave Heffernan put in a great, 70-minute shift at hooker, Conor Fitzgerald continues to impress and Bundee Aki was a force of nature. He is looking back to his bruising best.
What a day for Connacht
The Fields of Athenry rings around the sports ground pic.twitter.com/vmUdDNzcre
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) December 14, 2019
Munster’s sole representative, after their 15-6 loss to Saracens, is lock Jean Kleyn, who really brought the fire at fight to the reigning champs at Allianz Park. Word of note, too, for Jack O’Donoghue.
Rounding out our XV are six players from the Leinster side that torched Northampton Saints 50-21 at the Aviva Stadium. Cian Healy and Tadhg Furlong looked great and the Leinster backline was nigh’ on untouchable. Dave Kearney, James Lowe and hat-trick hero Garry Ringrose all make it while Jordan Larmour edges out Jacob Stockdale, who was excellent for Ulster at fullback.
Notable mentions for Donnacha Ryan and Simon Zebo, who helped Racing 92 to another resounding win over Ospreys.
Team of the Weekend
15. Jordan Larmour (Leinster)
14. Dave Kearney (Leinster)
13. Garry Ringrose (Leinster)
12. Bundee Aki (Connacht)
11. James Lowe (Leinster)
10. Conor Fitzgerald (Connacht)
9. John Cooney (Ulster)1. Cian Healy (Leinster)
2. Dave Heffernan (Connacht)
3. Tadhg Furlong (Leinster)
4. Jean Kleyn (Munster)
5. Iain Henderson (Ulster)
6. Sean Reidy (Ulster)
7. Jarrad Butler (Connacht)
8. Marcell Coetzee (Ulster)
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Barry Murphy and Andrew Trimble are joined in the House of Rugby studio by Jerry Flannery to look back on all the latest Champions Cup action. Rory Best also drops in for a chat with Jerry.
