Opta’s European Rugby Team of the Week: 11-13 October

There were plenty of eye-catching performances across another busy weekend of action in the Premiership, TOP 14 and United Rugby Championship. Who made our data-powered Opta Team of the Week?

The Premiership, TOP 14 and United Rugby Championship are all well underway and we’re beginning to see who might be fighting for titles and play-off spots and who could be in a scrap to avoid finishing bottom of the pile.

As always, there was plenty of competition for our Team of the Week, so let’s find out who made the cut.

Ten different teams are represented in the side, and it was a good weekend for the letter B as Bath, Bayonne, Bristol and Bordeaux all had two players make our XV, with Leinster also providing two players.

Opta’s Star Player of the Week

Gabriel Ibitoye was the top-ranking player across the weekend’s rugby, according to the Opta Index, with the Bristol winger in devasting form with ball in hand. He gained 149 metres, the most of any player in the Premiership, TOP 14 or URC and that was helped by his ability to break the defensive line. Ibitoye made three line breaks in total – no player made more in the English top flight.

Oh, and he also recorded a nine-minute hat-trick…

The Best of the Rest

Ange Capuozzo pushed Ibitoye all the way for our star player, finishing just behind the flying winger, but still doing more than enough to take up the number 14 jersey in our Team of the Week.

His six line breaks were the most of any player in a TOP 14, Premiership or URC match so far this season. In fact, only twice in the last three seasons of those competitions has any player made as many in a fixture (Joe Carpenter, 6 vs Saracens in March 2023 & Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 6 vs Newcastle in April 2024).

Facundo Bosch put in a great all-round effort as Bayonne dismantled TOP 14 heavyweights Stade Rochelais. He made all 13 lineout throws, the most of any player to record a 100% success rate, while he was also a menace in defence, winning five turnovers. No other player won more than three across the big three leagues at the weekend.

His tally of 14 defensive rucks was also the most of any player in Europe at the weekend, while he contributed to the breakdown in attack, hitting 19 rucks when Bayonne were in possession. He also crossed for a well-deserved try.

Caelan Doris put in a standout performance as he helped Leinster beat provincial rivals Munster in front of more than 80,000 fans at Croke Park. His tally of 22 carries – which saw him beat four defenders – was the most of any player in Europe at the weekend, while he also made the joint most tackles of any player in the URC (21, level with David McCann).

Since the South African teams joined the United Rugby Championship, only once before had a player made 20+ carries and 20+ tackles in a match in the competition, with Elrigh Louw doing so in October 2022, also against Munster.

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