Our Investec Champions Cup team of the week - round four

The Investec Champions Cup round of 16 ties have been confirmed after a final round of pool stage action that produced drama right until the end.

The knockout fixtures are not what many were expecting heading into Sunday, but some surprising results changed the landscape of the play-offs. Those surprising results have been reflected in the latest team of the week.

Conversely, there were some emphatic results against some second-string outfits, and while the margins were shocking, the quality of opposition means those victorious sides have struggled to make it into the team of the week. So here’s our Champions Cup team of round four:

15. George Pearson (Leicester Tigers)
He may have been on the losing side, but based on the opposition he faced – a Stormers side that had only lost one game all season – Leicester’s Pearson can hold his head high. The 19-year-old scored Leicester’s first try, but it was his solidity under the high ball that stood out.

14. Edoardo Todaro (Northampton Saints)
A hat-trick scorer as Northampton snuck past the Scarlets, but these weren’t just three tries scored in the corner (well, one was), rather, the 19-year-old Italian showed his predatory instincts to come off his wing and pierce the Scarlets’ defence. Very Penaud-like.

13. Vuate Karawalevu (Castres)
What’s not to like about a hard-running 104kg former Fiji rugby league international? A lot if you’re a Munster player. Karawalevu averaged 10 metres per carry at Thomond Park, scoring his side’s opening try of the match.

12. Bryn Bradley (Harlequins)
A proper inside centre’s performance against La Rochelle from the 22-year-old. Nothing flashy, just hard and direct all afternoon with ball in hand, and constantly meeting the La Rochelle attack head-on. A Wales call-up would not be surprising.

11. Louis Bielle-Biarrey (Bordeaux-Begles)
Bordeaux-Begles fed on Bristol’s mistakes in the rain, and when they have a player with the pace and finishing ability of the France wing, it simply means mistakes will get punished. Three tries, two of which came directly from Bristol mistakes. Must be a joy for fly-halves like Matthieu Jalibert knowing they have a player with such extreme pace outside them.

10. Marcus Smith (Harlequins)
A huge performance as Smith continues to break the shackles of being just a swashbuckling fly-half to one who can control a game. The Stade Marcel Deflandre is a daunting venue for any visitors, but Smith steered Quins to victory adroitly. His try-saving tackle on Davit Niniashvili in the closing stages summed up how complete his display was.

9. George Horne (Glasgow Warriors)
A try against Saracens was merely the cherry on top of what was a display of the highest order at Scotstoun. He played with an energy that the London outfit could not suppress, and fronted up in defence too, making 13 tackles.

1. Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Bulls)
Not only did the Springbok play the full 80, he also shifted to hooker for the final quarter of the match. Big scrummaging effort and got around the park to make 18 tackles.

2. Gregor Hiddleston (Glasgow Warriors)
A key cog in the Glasgow defensive effort that repelled Saracens time and time again, completing 18 tackles in just 60 minutes, which are figures that are not uncommon for the 23-year-old. Solid in the lineout and chipped in with three turnovers too.

3. Trevor Davison (Northampton Saints)
In a week where Asher Opoku-Fordjour was ruled out of the Six Nations, Davison put on a scrummaging display against the Scarlets that would have caught Steve Borthwick’s eye. Any performance that sees your opposing loosehead yellow carded suggests you dominated in the scrum.

4. JD Schickerling (Stormers)
Finds his way in this team purely based on his long-range solo effort, which gave some breathing room against Leicester in Cape Town. Showed plenty of athleticism for a 119kg unit, and topped off the display with an 80-minute stint in the engine room.

5. Adam Coleman (Bordeaux-Begles)
Bristol had 55 per cent possession at home against the European champions, but Bordeaux were happy to soak up their carries in wet conditions, with Australia-turned-Tonga international Coleman leading the charge with a match-leading 17 tackles. He took what the Bears’ best carriers had, with a standout moment being bouncing Ellis Genge backwards before the England loosehead immediately returned for more.

6. Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins)
Played at No.8, but the Quins captain needed a place in this team, although his team-mate Chandler Cunningham-South, pushed him all the way. The England back-row’s carries persistently plagued the La Rochelle defence, but it was the deftness of his handling that was most destructive on the Atlantic coast. His pop inside to Cunningham-South for Tyrone Green’s try was nice, but his line and offload to Luke Northmore in the build-up to Tom Lawday’s match-winning try was true class.

7. Paul de Villiers (Stormers)
The Stormers may not have been at their best against Leicester Tigers in Cape Town, but there was no slip in standards for their flanker de Villiers, who picked up yet another player of the match accolade. Topped the match for tackles, but crucially offloaded twice in contact to put both Evan Roos and Leolin Zas in for tries.

8. Jack Dempsey (Glasgow Warriors)
Tormented Saracens on either side of the ball. 12 carries, 16 tackles, two turnovers, eight defenders beaten, the No.8 was near the top of every stat that helps decide a match.