Eleven players from Irish provinces are included in our team of the week, with Leinster and Connacht leading the way after big wins in round six of the BKT United Rugby Championship.
Leinster came from behind to defeat Munster in a keenly-fought contest at the Aviva Stadium, while Connacht also finished strongly on Friday night to register a crucial win over the Scarlets.
15. Ciarán Frawley (Leinster)
With concerns around Hugo Keenan's fitness, could we see Frawley slot in at full-back for Ireland next month?
He did his chances no harm against Munster, combining brilliantly with Johnny Sexton in a slick Leinster backline that created bags of scoring chances but lacked a killer instinct at crucial moments.
Frawley often moved into first receiver and also took a leaf out of Sexton's book with some nice loop plays, while his kicking from hand was also effective.
14. John Porch (Connacht)
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Porch retains his place on the wing after another all-action performance in Connacht’s vital win over the Scarlets.
The Australian produced some brilliant link-up play in attack and shone once again in defence, kicking intelligently in tough conditions and was solid under high balls.
13. Garry Ringrose (Leinster)
Edinburgh’s Matt Currie scored a try and created two more against Zebre but we can’t look past Ringrose, who is carrying serious form into next month’s internationals.
Some lovely footwork saw Ringrose step around opposite number Dan Goggin during the opening stages, but even without the ball he caused problems, a decoy run creating space for Jamie Osborne down the wing on one occasion.
Minutes after making a big tackle inside his own half that resulted in a turnover, Ringrose produced a moment of magic as he managed to offload out of a double tackle to put Rob Russell over in the corner.
12. Robbie Henshaw (Leinster)
Whenever Leinster found themselves losing ground in attack against Munster, Henshaw was on hand to make a powerful carry and get his side back over the gain line.
A constant threat in attack, the in-form centre was also tenacious in defence and will again play a key role in Ireland’s autumn.
11. Mack Hansen (Connacht)
Hansen joins up with his Ireland team-mates on Monday on the back of a two-try display against the Scarlets.
Connacht director of rugby Andy Friend believes the 24-year-old is capable of moving up a level with Ireland and the fact he was disappointed with his display on Friday is a sign of the high standards Hansen sets himself.
The wing stepped inside one defence and withstood the tackle of another to score Connacht’s second try on 34 minutes, while some slick link-up play with Conor Oliver before half-time should have resulted in a try.
The Westerners dominated the second half and Hansen had the final say after a deft kick by Jack Carty, kicking ahead before outpacing Johnny McNicholl, who got the better of him for the Scarlets' try, to touch down.
10. Johnny Sexton (Leinster)
"He's the best Irish player I’ve seen or played with, and he’s just getting better, which is kind of scary at this age."
Those were the views of Jamie Heaslip after another assured showing by the 37-year-old out-half, who put an early missed kick behind him to spark the Leinster backline into life, while also coming up with some big hits in defence.
Special mention to Rhys Priestland, who kicked 20 points as Cardiff ended the Stormers’ 15-game unbeaten streak.
9. Luke McGrath (Leinster)
The RTÉ panel of Heaslip, Donncha O’Callaghan and Darren Cave all agreed that McGrath deserved to be in the Ireland scrum-half conversation after he was named player of the match against Munster.
McGrath provided the Leinster backline with quick, accurate passing and marshalled his pack superbly. A quick tap penalty almost resulted in a try for Jason Jenkins but a clever decoy step from behind a maul drew Conor Murray out of position and allowed Dan Sheehan to score.
McGrath grabbed the try his performance deserved after the hour mark, punishing some slack Munster defending to put Leinster on course for a sixth successive victory.
1. Jeremy Loughman (Munster)
It’s not often a prop plays the full 80-plus minutes these days, let alone swapping back and forth between loosehead and tighthead.
That’s just what Loughman did against Leinster, shifting across the front row after Keynan Knox was sin-binned, and again when Knox was replaced in the second half. A dogged display by the 27-year-old.
2. Adam McBurney (Edinburgh)
The Ballymena native crossed for two tries in Edinburgh’s big win away to Zebre and went close to making it a hat-trick.
McBurney touched down twice in the opening 25 minutes in Parma to put Edinburgh on course for their second landslide victory over Italian opposition in the space of eight days. He was also held up over the line during that period as the visiting pack dominated.
3. Andrew Porter (Leinster)
Porter made a big impact from the bench against Munster, shoring up a Leinster scrum that at times looked under pressure and winning a crucial scrum penalty inside his own 22 with 10 minutes remaining.
4. Niall Murray (Connacht)
Friday’s game in Galway was huge in the context of Connacht’s season and Murray helped settle their nerves with a try after just 27 seconds.
The Athlone lock punished Kieran Hardy’s dallying at a ruck by charging down his box-kick and raced onto the bouncing ball to score.
Murray formed a key part of a powerful forward performance by Connacht in the second half and provided a strong latch for Jack Aungier’s try on 53 minutes, which gave his side some much-needed breathing room.
5. Josh Turnbull (Cardiff)
Rhys Priestland took the plaudits after Cardiff’s victory over the defending champions but Turnbull’s leadership was crucial.
The Stormers threatened to pummel the home pack, their maul wreaking havoc, but Turnbull led by example and his tenacious performance in the tight was rewarded as Cardiff finished strongly to claim a memorable win.
6. Marcell Coetzee (Vodacom Bulls)
Coetzee was the standout performer in a dominant Bulls pack as they ended their European tour on a winning note against Benetton.
The former Ulster back row made 10 successful carries and beat a team-leading five defenders while also touching down for the Pretoria side’s bonus-point try.
Coetzee takes the No 6 shirt ahead of Nama Xaba, who scored two tries in the Stormers’ defeat at Cardiff.
7. Conor Oliver (Connacht)
Oliver topped the tackle charts with 11 against the Scarlets and enjoyed a great tussle with opposite number Dan Thomas at the breakdown.
The openside was also heavily involved in attack, running some excellent support lines and linking up with his backline, and was unlucky not to cross the try-line on the stroke of half-time.
Scott Penny also shone with a try in Leinster’s win over Munster.
8. Bill Mata (Edinburgh)
The Fiji international edges out Caelan Doris after marking his 100th appearance for Edinburgh in style with a player-of-the-match display against Zebre.
Mata carried for 42 metres in Parma, the most of any Edinburgh player.
Watch Munster v Ulster and Ospreys v Connacht in the BKT United Rugby Championship on Saturday 29 October from 4.45pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player
