After nine days, the Top 14 takes its first break since the start of the championship. The opportunity to reveal the ten backs who impressed us the most. Please note, there is no established ranking, those interested are listed in no particular order.
What a pleasure for the eyes. When Matthieu Jalibert is performing at his best, there is only one thing to do: sit back and admire the artist. From the first day against Stade Français, the flyhalf worked wonders with the ball in hand. In great shape,he Girondin is almost impossible to stop. The statistics prove it. After nine episodes, Jalibert has already made seven crossings and scored three tries. Even if it is sometimes complicated for him during his attempts at kicking and in defense, we simply remember the attacker that he is. It’s already enough to quote it here.
With Thomas Ramos, it’s like with Antoine Dupont: we don’t really know what to say anymore. The Toulouse fly-half or full-back continues to amaze us with the red and black jersey on his shoulders. With the number 15 on your back or the number 10 when Romain Ntamack is not there, it doesn’t change anything. Ramos does what he wants on the green rectangle, and it is his opponents who pay the price. Still as precise on the foothe also scored four tries. Classic for an international class player…
Eight matches, eight tries: who says better? No one after nine days. The Bayonne center has been walking on water since the start of the championship. His double against Toulouse last Sunday allows him to be the top scorer in the championship today. And it doesn’t stop there. Thirty-four defenders beaten and ten crossings for the 24-year-old. Quite good last weekend, his duo with Manu Tuilagi can scare all the teams in the Top 14.
How far away seems the time when the Italian international was in difficulty on the banks of the Garonne. This season, Ange Capuozzo is reborn on the wing of Stade Toulouse. His XXL performance against Clermont proved his great form, while his hat-trick against Toulon demonstrated all his finishing talent. In total, the former Grenoble player crossed the line five times. He is also the best franchise player in the first division (30). Capuozzo is very strong.
In the family of rockets, we would like Louis Bielle-Biarrey. Five tries in six matches, routine for the Girondin, who is currently preparing for the November tour with the Blues. At 22, “LBB” gives the impression of having been a professional rugby player for a decade. Now indisputable in club and country, he seems at the top of his game. If UBB wants to lift trophies, it will need a great Bielle-Biarrey on the pitch. The latter is one of the “galactics”, and we easily understand why. Ah yes, twelve crossings for the gentleman in six matches.
The seasons pass and are similar on the Lyon side where scrum half Baptiste Couilloud continues to impress. With 8 matches played including 7 as a starter, the French international has already made 6 tries and also 16 broken tackles. More generally, he continues to perfectly liven up the Rhone back lines with his sidekick Léo Berdeu, also excellent this year. If Lou has already scored 245 points this season, the hinge is far from unrelated.
The now three-quarter center of La Rochelle is currently having a season worthy of its greatest moments. The repositioning carried out by Ronan O’Gara seems saving for the former racing player who has scored 5 tries in as many matches this season. But in addition to his achievements, Teddy Thomas impresses in the game with his 14 beaten defenders and 6 crossings. If the man who will celebrate his incredible hat-trick for his first selection in Blue this Friday is left alone by injuries, he can have an incredible season.
Recently awarded l’Oscar Bronzethe French winger started this season on a high. In addition to his 5 tries in 6 matches, like his teammate Louis Bielle-Biarrey (see below), the former Clermont player continues to make the Top 14 defenses he meets on his way dizzy. This season he has already broken through the opposing defense 6 times and above all escaped 22 tackles. All in all, classic statistics for Penaud, which shows his level over recent seasons.
The Ile-de-France scrum half seems to have taken the place of second number 9 in the French team and when we see the level he has displayed for several months now it is entirely deserved. In the middle of a moribund team, the original Breton survives and appears as the real boss of his team while he plays alongside the illustrious Owen Farrell. His four attempts reward his work but cannot sum it up as Stuart Lancaster seems to have left him the keys to the Ciel et Blanc truck this season.
If the Castres have the second best attack in the Top 14 this season, the young opener is no stranger to it. Finally installed at the opening, the young Tarn is having his best season since playing in the elite. Often just in action, he also knows how to attack opposing defenses and has already broken nine tackles, one in the nine days in which he participated. But it is especially on the other side of the field that the former U20 international stands out. With 78 tackles made since the start of the season, he is the only full-back in the top 20 best scorers in the championship. Enough for Jérémy Davidson to place his complete trust in him.
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