Round 12 (the round before last) marked the half-way stage of this year's Aviva Premiership competition. Thought that I'd do a little feature on my top picks for the best performers so far.
Hope you enjoy!
15 Harry Mallinder | Northampton Saints
Harry Mallinder never really gets that plaudits he deserves; many questioned his work rate last season and claimed that his form didn't warrant a first-team place. This season, however, the 21-year-old has truly shined in the Northampton 15 shirt. The Saints have been in dismal form, and apart from Jamie Gibson and maybe Courtney Lawes, he's the only player that I'd want to have playing for me.
14 Byron McGuigan | Sale Sharks
McGuigan has been playing brilliantly for Sale Sharks and was even called up to Scotland duty in the recent Autumn Internationals series. When you saw Sale Sharks in the fixture list you used to think of an easy 5 points, but now you're scared of the attacking threat of McGuigan and Solomona (among others) on the wings.
13 Henry Slade | Exeter Chiefs
Slade has no doubt been wanting to send a message to Eddie Jones at the start of this season, and he undoubtedly has! He's been my standout player at Outside Centre and truly deserves to be starting every single game for England in the upcoming Six Nations tournament. He's been a pivotal anchor to a high-flying Exeter Chiefs side, which has won with a bonus point in every Sandy Park fixture.
12 Ryan Mills | Worcester Warriors
Media attention has been focused largely on Josh Adams' role in the revival of Worcester in the latter stages of the first half of the season, but I think it's mostly down to Ryan Mills. He performed in every match for the Warriors, even the ones where they lost convincingly.
11 Josh Adams | Worcester Warriors
I really wanted to put Ollie Thorley in at 11 and he has been largely my favourite Gloucester player so far this season - so that tells you something! Josh Adams has been unreal and the media attention he is grabbing has been very deserved; even if it is ignoring Ryan Mills somewhat. He's been scoring tries at ease for Worcester and has been a key to their recent awesome run of form. I'd certainly watch out for this guy as he could be featuring for the Welsh national team in the future, and of course may get some attention from the bigger Aviva Premiership giants and the larger payslips.
10 AJ MacGinty | Sale Sharks
I've chosen not to include Marcus Smith as, although he's been playing great, I don't think he has been controlling the Harlequins games as much as he could be and Quins are suffering as a result. One Fly-Half that has really shone for me has to be AJ MacGinty for Sale. He came in to replace Danny Cipriani following his move to Wasps and never really displayed fully what he had to offer the Sharks last season - but so far this season he has been flying (sorry about the pun)!
9 Willi Heinz | Gloucester Rugby
It was between Heinz and Faf de Klerk for this spot and Heinz gets it. When I watch Gloucester play, I see his shiny bald head absolutely everywhere (and I mean everywhere!) on the field. He tops the passing stats having made 703 passes already! He's been playing so good that Eddie Jones is thinking about calling him up for England, with the New Zealander being eligible through the 3-year residency rule.
8 Ruan Ackermann | Gloucester Rugby
My favourite player right now. I've included this picture of him as it shows the emotions that he feels towards his club, with Ruan tearing up on his last game for the Emirates Lions. Quite frankly he has been outstanding, and having started playing shakily at Openside Flanker (6) he shifted to Number 8 due to a little bit of a falling out with Ross Moriarty and Gloucester and he has been superb! His ball carrying ability when on the ball is stunning, and he has made 149 carries so far this season (second to Alex Goode). He joined Gloucester this summer and is two years away from qualifying for England duty, but Eddie Jones has already made his intentions clear that Ruan will be in the England set-up in the future. Quite simply the biggest prospect in the Aviva Premiership right now.
7 Lewis Ludlow | Gloucester Rugby
Defensively, Lewis Ludlow has been the best player in the Aviva Premiership. When he's been on the field for Gloucester, he's made it 200 times more difficult for the opposition to score and has made 202 tackles so far this season (40 ahead of Bath's Tom Dunn). I'd love to see him playing in the Six Nations and think that he would be such a great asset to have against the attacking dominance of Ireland, Scotland and France.
6 Don Armand | Exeter Chiefs
Don Armand never gives less than 100% and is always picking up MOTMs for his efforts. He has been topping the turnover charts for Exeter for a while now and is a big asset to have on the field. With the acquisition of Matt Kvesic in the summer, Don Armand's place in the Exeter side was under a little bit of contention - but he has easily shown that he deserves to be starting for the Chiefs week in week out.
5 Jeremy Thrush | Gloucester Rugby
Jeremy Thrush has been scoring at ease for Gloucester this year. Considering Gloucester focus hugely on their defense and big forward play, Jeremy Thrush has become a huge asset to Johan Ackermann (Ackermann Senior) this season. He's always been good, but I never knew he was as good as his recent performances have shown. I don't think anyone can argue with his inclusion in the top performing Aviva Premiership players so far!
4 Elliott Stooke | Bath
Never really been a fan of Stooke, especially as he never really performed when he played for Gloucester. I was happy to see that he had moved to Bath and was a 'useless' player off of our books, but now I'm sad he went as he has definitely been performing for Bath; he's probably their stand out player apart from Rokoduguini or Fotuali'i.
3 Harry Williams | Exeter Chiefs
Harry Williams has given Eddie Jones a real issue at selecting a tighthead for the Six Nations. He's outplayed Dan Cole every round so far, and given that he's only 26 he could be in the England set-up for a number of years. He's kept Tomas Francis out of the Exeter Chiefs starting XV and in my opinion is only getting better and better.
2 Dave Ward | Harlequins
Not too much to say about Ward. Dave Ward and Marcus Smith are the only Harlequins players that have been up-to-speed in recent weeks, and Dave Ward especially has been playing incredibly. My top performing hooker so far this season.
1 Ben Moon | Exeter Chiefs
The Exeter front-row doesn't really have the internationals that many other teams have, but it truly makes little differeance and in-fact I'd rather have the Exeter front-row playing in my rugby team than any other. Ben Moon has put in dogged performances week in week out and although he gets generally little media attention, if any, he has been my standout at 1.
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