Josh, Joe, James and Tom

[RogerE]

make the Telegraph's team of the weekend:


Here are the standout players from the first weekend of Gallagher Premiership action in 2021. Only four matches, but we thoroughly enjoyed the bunch of them.

15 Charles Piutau (Bristol Bears)

A first appearance of the season for one of the league's highest-paid players and Piutau produced a delightful one-handed pick-up to score on his return against Newcastle. Freddie Steward stood out for Leicester too.
Bristol Bears' Charles Piutau
Bristol Bears' Charles Piutau Credit: CAMERASPORT
14 Nemani Nadolo (Leicester Tigers)

Paolo Odogwu made tons of ground for Wasps but Nadolo's offload to set up a try for Harry Wells in Leicester's win over Bath was the kind of moment Tigers' fans must have been dreaming of when they signed him from Montpellier.

 
13 Semi Radradra (Bristol Bears)

Sadly his forward pass ruled out one of the tries of the season, but otherwise Radradra was dynamic as ever, making more ground than any other Bristol player and beating Newcastle defenders with his footwork.
12 Chris Harris (Gloucester)

Took a heavy hit from Daniel du Preez which brought another fine outing from the Scotland centre to an end, having set up Louis Rees-Zammit's try against Sale. Putting himself in the frame for the British and Irish Lions tour.

    This delayed pass from Lloyd Evans is PERFECTION! 😍

    And let's be honest, there's no catching Louis Rees-Zammit ⚡️

    High quality from @gloucesterrugby! 🍒#GallagherPrem pic.twitter.com/i4ZPArCYUA
    — Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) January 2, 2021

11 Josh Bassett (Wasps)

Bassett probably deserves a shot with England at some point given how well he has played for Wasps over the past couple of seasons. Great pace to put away Lima Sopoaga for this try against Exeter.

    A statement victory for @WaspsRugby 🐝

    • Five tries
    • 29-point winning margin
    • First team to beat Exeter this season

    This score from @LimaSopoaga the pick of the bunch at the Ricoh Arena! 👏 pic.twitter.com/CW4VhY3XU2
    — Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) January 2, 2021

10 AJ MacGinty (Sale Sharks)

A fine effort from George Ford on Sunday as the England No 10's spiral bomb kicks caused chaos for Bath. But MacGinty kept Sale in the game at Kingsholm, landing five penalties and a conversion for a first Sale win since Steve Diamond's exit.
9 Ben Spencer (Bath)

Not to be for Bath at Welford Road but Ben Spencer produced another special try to add to his collection of highlights since arriving at Farleigh House. Footballing skills; not bad.

    "That is an unbelievable finish!"

    Shapes to go one way, powers off in the other before chipping over the top and finishing with aplomb!

    Take a bow, Ben Spencer 👏 pic.twitter.com/Rnx5c4K2bB
    — Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) January 3, 2021

1 Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers)

One of Leicester's chief ball carriers and he stood out again in the win over Bath, with Genge beating five defenders and making ground with ball in hand too, along with plenty of tackles. A nod for Simon McIntyre after his brace off the bench.
2 George Kloska (Bristol Bears)

Not bad at all for a first Premiership start by the 21-year-old Bristol hooker, who was drafted in with Bristol missing three front-line hookers from the first-team squad and fared well, scoring Bristol's bonus-point try and making an impressive 19 tackles.

    ✅ New year
    ✅ First #GallagherPrem start
    ✅ Man of the Match

    George Kloska speaks after the @BristolBears hand a first league defeat to the Falcons! pic.twitter.com/TCikbul8ps
    — Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) January 1, 2021

3 Fraser Balmain (Gloucester)

Picked up his fifth Premiership try as Gloucester finished off a rolling maul to cross for the first try of the game at Kingsholm, and also finished with seven tackles on a busy afternoon.
4 Joe Launchbury (Wasps)

Quality performance from the England lock, setting up a try for James Gaskell and making an impressive 10 carries too. Perhaps he might make the Lions this time round after previously missing out.
5 Harry Wells (Leicester Tigers)

Showed good patience with a nice dummy before scoring for Leicester right after half-time against Bath, on the end of Nadolo's offload. Also produced a lineout steal and made eight tackles for Tigers.
6 James Gaskell (Wasps)

The Premiership veteran scored two tries for Wasps in the win over Exeter - Gaskell had managed 11 in his previous 182 league outings - and he was busy in defence too, weighing in with 11 tackles.
James Gaskell of Wasps breaks clear of Ollie Devoto to score their second try
James Gaskell of Wasps breaks clear of Ollie Devoto to score their second try Credit: GETTY IMAGES
7 Tom Willis (Wasps)

The Wasps No 8 shifts to flanker (normally his brother's spot in these selections) after another industrious display for Wasps in that win over the Chiefs, with Willis making a team-high 15 carries and 16 tackles.
8 Jasper Wiese (Leicester Tigers)

Turning out to be one of the signings of the season, with Wiese's work-rate at the back of that Leicester pack having been superb so far this season. Even with his yellow card, Wiese made a remarkable 115 metres from his 14 carries, beating eight defenders. Good weekends for Nathan Hughes at Bristol and Sale's Daniel du Preez (that hit on Harris aside).

[hookender]

Bassett for England? We notice the stuff he does and I think of him like Joe , dependable , operating under the radar a lot of the time and just gets on with his job.

[DGP Wasp]

Bassett for England? We notice the stuff he does and I think of him like Joe , dependable , operating under the radar a lot of the time and just gets on with his job.

There is a real value to having top notch players who fall just beneath the international radar.  Particularly this season with internationals available for fewer games than normal.  Josh is coming up 29 and will be 31 by the time the next WC comes round.  Unlikely to get his chance now with plenty of others seemingly ahead of him.  Shame for him as it would be well deserved, but from a Wasps point of view, very happy to have him with us all year.

[RogerE]

Bassett for England? We notice the stuff he does and I think of him like Joe , dependable , operating under the radar a lot of the time and just gets on with his job.

There is a real value to having top notch players who fall just beneath the international radar.  Particularly this season with internationals available for fewer games than normal.  Josh is coming up 29 and will be 31 by the time the next WC comes round.  Unlikely to get his chance now with plenty of others seemingly ahead of him.  Shame for him as it would be well deserved, but from a Wasps point of view, very happy to have him with us all year.

and hopefully a few more

[mike909]

Bassett for England? We notice the stuff he does and I think of him like Joe , dependable , operating under the radar a lot of the time and just gets on with his job.

There is a real value to having top notch players who fall just beneath the international radar.  Particularly this season with internationals available for fewer games than normal.  Josh is coming up 29 and will be 31 by the time the next WC comes round.  Unlikely to get his chance now with plenty of others seemingly ahead of him.  Shame for him as it would be well deserved, but from a Wasps point of view, very happy to have him with us all year.

Ditto Taylor and Brookes and others

[hookender]

Sky list Lima, the dog, Joe and Gaskell in their team

[JonnyD]

Very generous on Odogwu and Lima there

[Heathen]

It will be interesting to see Flat's pick.

[coddy]

It will be interesting to see Flat's pick.

Pretty sure it wont have Lima in it. The Full Back slot will probably go to our old friend Piatau or maybe the guy from Tigers as he is pretty unknown and had a very solid game yesterday.