Premiership Round 17 Team of the Week: George Ford helps Sale Sharks secure crucial win over Bristol Bears  

The penultimate round of Premiership rugby played host to some of the biggest games of the season, with so much on the line. 

Sale Sharks saw off Bristol Bears to majorly boost their top-four hopes, leapfrogging Bears to move up to third. 

Saracens lost in the last minute to Northampton Saints, which means that they face a huge uphill battle on the final day to get into the play-offs. 

Given that there was everything to play for, some of the games were a bit cagey, but here are some of the players who stood out in such a crucial round. 

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Back Three

15 Elliot Daly (Saracens) 

Daly may have played outside centre instead of fullback, but found a lot of his joy from deep. 

Ran a lovely line and played a great pass for Juan Martin Gonzalez’s try and Saracens’ second of the game. 

Tried to make things happen all game, and while some of his attempted passes didn’t come off, he showed plenty of ambition and guile to try and create things for Sarries. 

14 Siva Naulago (Bristol Bears) 

Scored a brace of tries despite Bristol’s comfortable defeat to Sale Sharks, including a great finish out on the wing. 

Stepped last man Tom O’Flaherty right on the line to leap over and dot down, which at the time gave the Bears some real hope of a comeback. 

Also stepped him for a late try but by that point, the game had gone, and it meant very little. 

11 Joe Cokanasiga (Bath) 

Made so many metres with the ball, over 110 in total against Leicester Tigers. 

Not at his absolute best defensively, with a few missed tackles, but overall, his work with the ball deserves to be commended. 

Also got himself a try. 

Centres

13 Max Ojomoh (Bath) 

Really showed his England credentials ahead of the summer tour and came off the bench against Leicester Tigers, with a huge impact. 

Got a try assist, made plenty of bursting runs and made sure that the points stayed at The Rec. 

Defended very well too, with a turnover won. 

Rightly awarded with the Player of the Match award, especially impressive given that he started on the bench. 

12 Rekeiti Ma’asi White (Sale Sharks) 

Ma’asi White’s meteoric rise as part Sale’s side this season continues to reach new trajectories. 

The centre was outstanding against Bristol, with him continuously punching holes in the defence and constantly disrupting the defence. 

Broke through a line about five metres from the try-line. 

Halfbacks

10 George Ford (Sale Sharks) 

Ford has taken his British and Irish Lions snub brilliantly, following it up with some performances to show Andy Farrell what he has been missing. 

He absolutely ran the show for Sale with some brilliant playmaking both with his hands and his feet. Nailed every one of his seven kicks at goal from the tee, a true mark of great consistency. 

Got a well-deserved Player of the Match for his efforts. 

9 Raffi Quirke (Sale Sharks) 

Quirke came off the bench against Leicester Tigers last week and struggled to make an impact, but redeemed himself this week. 

Got a try and assist off the bench and looked at his best, bringing energy and directness to the scrum-half position. 

They looked a far more dangerous team with him on the pitch, and he can be very happy with a great stint on the pitch. 

Front Row

1 Tarek Haffar (Northampton Saints) 

Scored a brace of tries for Saints, including a last-minute winner against Saracens, for which he showed some brilliant footwork to break past the last defender. 

Changed the game in his cameo off the bench, and Saints might be regretting letting him go at the end of the season. 

2 Tom Dunn (Bath) 

Special shoutout to Tadgh McElroy, who put in a mega shift for Sale in Luke Cowan-Dickie’s absence. 

But, Dunn was slightly better overall. 

The Bath man scored a try, was solid from the lineout and generally kept things ticking for his side. 

Was busy across the whole game and was very impactful as a result. 

3 Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks) 

Opoku-Fordjour has been touted as the future of England’s front row and with good reason. 

Supremely powerful, which is essential for any prop, he also possesses some great attributes with the ball that are less trademark of his position. 

Always looked to get the ball in hand and used some brilliant agility to get round defenders on a couple of occasions. 

Also played his part in the buildup to a try with some quick passing and moving that moved Sale forward plenty of metres. 

Second Row

4 Maro Itoje (Saracens) 

Relentless at the breakdown as he so often is, disrupted Saints’ play and got plenty of touches on the ball, with decent impact. 

Four turnovers won is very impressive, and his personal performance perhaps warranted more than the result that they got. 

5 Jonny Hill (Sale Sharks) 

Hill is going to be sorely missed by Sale next season, following the announcement that he is going to be departing the Salford Community Stadium at the end of the season. 

In his last home game at the club, he put in a performance to be remembered and was given a standing ovation as he came off. 

Showed plenty of physicality and dominated the Bears’ forward pack, also bagging himself a try to put the cherry on top of a solid last home outing. 

Back Row

6 Ted Hill (Bath) 

Showed unreal pace to prevent a Leicester try and somehow almost outpaced Adam Radwan afterwards. 

Was powerful against a pretty physical Tigers and was dominant in collisions, whilst maintaining some good skills with the ball to make over 55 metres in carries. 

Double digits for tackles made, too. 

Hill is a great prospect and could be given an England chance this summer. 

7 Josh Kemeny (Northampton Saints) 

Showed his class against a very strong Sarries back row, competing on all fronts with some of the best players in the Prem. 

Opened the scoring with a try, but overall put in a big shift to keep his side in the game and eventually go on to win it. 

Worked very hard and got a fair few tackles and carries as a result. 

8 Tom Willis (Saracens) 

Set out his stool early on with a huge hit on Henry Pollock that marked his territory on the youngster. 

Over 40 metres carried, in double digits for tackles and eight defenders beaten, sums up a tidy performance despite Sarries’ defeat. 

Scored the opening try for his side, forcing his way through the last defensive line. 

By Charlie Elliott

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