Opta’s European Rugby Team of the Week: 4-6 October

Thirteen different teams across the Premiership, TOP 14 and United Rugby Championship are represented within our data-powered Opta European Club Rugby Team of the Week.

Once again there were some incredible performances across the big three European leagues this weekend. Countless players could have been selected for our Team of the Week. Using the Opta Index, our rugby experts at OptaJonny have whittled it down to 15 – let’s find out who made the cut.

This week sees 13 different teams represented in our selection, with Sale’s match against Gloucester producing four performances that caught the eye.

Opta’s Star Player of the Week

Tom Roebuck was instrumental in Sale’s victory over Gloucester, having a direct involvement in the first three tries of the evening for his side. He crossed for the Sharks’ opening score, before adding the assist for the second and finally crossed the try line again himself in the early stages of the second half.

He made five line breaks in total for Sale during the game, more than any other player in Europe over the weekend. In fact, only one other player has made as many in a match so far in 2024-25 (Lions’ Rabz Maxwane vs Ulster).

Roebuck also had some bite in defence too, with no back winning more turnovers than him over the weekend (2).

The Best of the Rest

Tom Jordan deservedly takes the number 10 jersey in our team after yet another fine performance for Glasgow Warriors, this time away to Cardiff. He was a key cog in the Warriors’ attack and was directly involved in five tries under the Friday night lights, crossing for two himself and providing a hat-trick of try assists – only one other player managed three assists across the European rugby fixtures this weekend (Leinster’s Jamison Gibson Park vs Benetton).

His five conversions – along with his two tries – took his overall points tally to 20 against Cardiff, the most of any player at the weekend and he was a handul all over the pitch. His seven carries saw him gain 124 metres – the most of any URC player – while he made three line breaks and beat four defenders.

It’s not really a surprise seeing the name ‘Ntamack’ appear on a team of the week, but it is Theo Ntamack who gets the nod in our lineup, with big brother Romain getting the night off away to Castres.

The number eight gained 148 metres with ball in hand, the most of any player in Europe – forwards or backs – and the fourth-highest tally of any player in a single fixture so far this campaign.

Ntamack was very much on kick return duty for Toulouse and it’s safe to say his role will remain that way for the rest of the season given the impact he made when fielding Castres’ clearance kicks.

Even when tackled he was still a handful – no forward in Europe made more offloads than him across the weekend (3). It remains to be seen whether he can hit the heights of his brother, but he’s certainly on the right trajectory.

Johannesburg is fast becoming one of the hardest places to go in the United Rugby Championship, with the Lions scintillating brand of rugby carving up most defences they face.

As such, it’s not surprising that a Lions winger makes our XV. Despite scoring a hat-trick, Rabz Maxwane narrowly missed out to teammate Edwill van der Merwe.

Van der Merwe scored two tries himself and added a try assist to his match stats. He’s been in incredible form on home soil ever since the South African teams joined the United Rugby Championship – either scoring or assisting 24 tries in 26 home games for the Lions (18 tries, 6 assists), with this being the third time he’s done both in a match in the competition.

How about some love for the front row union? A week after teammate and fellow front rower Nathan Jibulu made our Team of the Week, Harlequins Fin Baxter put in a perfomance that saw him claim the number one jersey.

Baxter made 17 tackles during Quins’ defeat to Northampton, the most of any prop in Europe at the weekend, while he was one of just two props to make a line break and one of three to assist a break too.

His opposite number Emmanuel Iyogun put in a fine performance too and was unlucky to miss out on selection for our team while Gloucester’s Afolabi Fasogbon – who hit the most attacking rucks of any player over the weekend (45) – also put in a fine shift. England’s future front row options look bright.

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