Using the Opta Index we pick our European Rugby Team of the Week from across the Premiership, TOP 14 and URC – find out who made the cut.
The United Rugby Championship came to a close at the weekend, with the top eight securing their play-off spots after a gruelling campaign. Meanwhile, the race for the knockout stages of the Premiership and TOP 14 seasons are set to go right down to the wire.
Big performances at this stage of the season are more crucial than ever and 15 men stood out above the rest across the weekend, securing a place in our Team of the Week in the process.
Thirteen teams are represented in our XV this week, with Sale Sharks and Gloucester the only teams to boast multiple players in the lineup.
Opta’s Star Player of the Week
Seb Atkinson was the top player across the big three European leagues at the weekend, making 21 carries and 13 tackles – his combined tally of 34 carries and tackles was more than any other player.
However it wasn’t just the quantity of his involvements that was impressive, it was also the quality. He scored a try and assisted a further two, while he made three line breaks and assisted another two for his teammates – no player was involved in as many breaks as the Cherry and Whites centre (5).
The Best of the Rest
Ben Earl was one of just five players to hit double figures for carries (11), tackles (19), attacking rucks (10) and defensive rucks (16), while he beat eight defenders, the joint most of any player across the big three European leagues, alongside teammate Tom Willis and Connacht’s Santiago Cordero.
The Stormers’ Suleiman Hartzenberg was another player who slipped through plenty of attempted tackles, beating seven defenders against Cardiff. He was also in the thick of the try-scoring action, being directly involved in three of his side’s tries at the weekend (2 tries, 1 assist).
Similar to Harzenberg, the half-backs in our team – Stu Townsend and Lubabalo Dobela – both scored and assisted a try at the weekend, with the Lions fly-half also putting in a solid defensive contribution, making 10 tackles without missing a single attempt.
Jude Postlethwaite gained the most metres of any player in the URC at the weekend (125), beating five defenders in the process. In fact, his tally of metres gained was the most by any centre in the URC so far in 2025.
At the breakdown, Freddie Clarke hit the most rucks of any player at the weekend (39) while Thomas Clarkson hit the most of any front rower.
The Leinster prop is joined in our front row by Beno Obano, who made the most tackles of any prop to boast a 100% success rate (11/11) and Tadgh McElroy, who was the top hooker for defenders beaten (4), line breaks (2) and attacking ruck hits (23).
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Opta’s European Rugby Team of the Week: 16-18 May Opta Analyst.
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