Aviva Premiership 2015/2016: XV of the Season

Picking the perfect XV from a season as long as the Aviva Premiership is a fool’s errand. The campaign goes on forever and form is often so fleeting that it is almost impossible to remember who was the flavour of the month way back in October.

With that in mind, it goes without saying that this side is massively subjective and designed to provoke debate – so please get involved in the comments section by telling me why I’m wrong, and do feel free to share your own XVs!

15. Alex Goode (Saracens)
Pretty much a straight shootout between Goode and Charles Piutau, both of whom would be worthy winners. While Piutau catches the eye more easily, Goode’s all-round game, including his incredible ability to beat defenders with that sidestep despite not seeming to be moving very quickly, just edges him ahead. Mention also to one of many impressive Sale youngsters, Mike Haley.

14. Telusa Veainu (Leicester Tigers)
Flitting between fullback and wing, Veainu’s insatiably fast feet have had even the best defenders in the league clutching at thin air all season. The Tongan’s desire to attack has coincided perfectly with Leicester’s new-found willingness to give it a go from anywhere under Aaron Mauger. A nod to Worcester’s Bryce Heem, whose brilliant finishing has been a key reason for their finishing so comfortably away from the relegation dogfight.

13. Peter Betham (Leicester Tigers)
A hotly-contested spot with Elliot Daly and Sam James both worthy of mentions, but Leicester’s Betham gets the nod. He has finished some good tries, but while he has always been a good runner, his distribution has come on leaps and bounds to see him chip in with several important assists. That he has made the Leicester 13 shirt his own in the face of stiff competition is all the more impressive given he hadn’t spent that much time there previously.

12. Elliot Daly (Wasps)
OK, so I’m bending the positional rules a bit here. Daly has clearly featured more at 13 this season, but he does have a couple of appearances at 12 to his name, and in the absence of any real standout operators that are genuine inside centres this year, that’s good enough for me. His form may have faded slightly towards the end of the season, but for most of it that hitch-kick and outside break have graced our screens time and time again – not to mention the ridiculous range and accuracy of his goal-kicking.

11. James Short (Exeter Chiefs)
Has had to bide his time on the bench more recently, but in the first three quarters of the season there were no better finishers in the league than the adopted flying Devonian. It is a mark of Exeter as a club that they have taken a player that was something of a journeyman previously, and turned him into one of the best wingers in the league. A mention for Semesa Rokoduguni, whose latter season form has been a shining light in a dismal year at the Rec.

10. Gareth Steenson (Exeter Chiefs)
Top scorer in the league by a whopping 52 points, Steenson has steered the Exeter ship to their first semi-final with aplomb. Nerveless from the tee and underrated as a playmaker, the Irishman has led a Chiefs backline that continues to outshine its more illustrious counterparts. A nod to several other contenders, including Jimmy Gopperth and Freddie Burns.

9. Dan Robson (Wasps)
The scrum-half spot almost needs to be split into two – Will Chudley for the first half of the season, Robson for the second. The Wasps man takes it, though, for his quick-wittedness and eye for a gap that has lit up many a game in Joe Simpson’s injury-enforced absence. Robson has long been too good to play second fiddle, and how Wasps manage to fit both him and Simpson in will be a real headache.

1. Mako Vunipola (Saracens)
Missed a chunk of the season with England of course, but even so, he has been the standout loosehead this campaign. Whilst his ability with ball in hand has never been in doubt, the improvement in his set piece work – most notably in the game against Leicester that saw the Saracens scrum win two penalty tries – has been staggering.

2. Harry Thacker (Leicester Tigers)
A very, very tough position indeed, with Mike Haywood and Tommy Taylor both outstanding (and both English, which is very pleasing indeed) also. But Thacker’s impact in the loose, allied with a vast improvement in his set piece work (his lineout percentage is an almost staggering 94%), has seen the absence of Tom Youngs barely felt by the Tigers. The pocket rocket from Leicester has been an utter joy to watch.

3. Jake Cooper-Woolley (Wasps)
One of the unheralded heroes in Wasps’ resurgent return to the playoffs. Cooper-Wooley has, in tandem with Cittadini, anchored a scrum that has been majorly improved in the past few seasons, and has set the platform from which the Wasps backs have enjoyed so much success. They took the plaudits, but none of it would have been possible without the work of the big boys up front.

4. Maro Itoje (Saracens)
After breaking through in style last year, Itoje faced that tricky second season. But like every hurdle he has faced so far in his career, he took it in his lengthy stride with aplomb. He topped the turnover stats before his Six Nations sojourn with England, and his ability at the lineout – in particular on opposition ball, where his spring-heeled jumping is beyond a nuisance – is unparalleled. A mention for Leicester’s Dom Barrow, who has reinstated a bit of much needed dog to the Leicester engine room.

5. Bryn Evans (Sale Sharks)
Incredibly tough to break up the Krutoje partnership, but Evans is the kind of player that has typified Sale’s under-the-radar, but exemplary, season. A force at the lineout, the understated Kiwi has been at the heart of an excellent campaign – notably at the set piece – for the men from the northwest.

6. Teimana Harrison (Northampton Saints)
A bit of a sneaky one, as Harrison has spent most of his time at eight and seven this season, but both those spots are heavily contested while the blindside isn’t so much (although a nod to his teammate Jamie Gibson, who has gone well). Harrison has been a revelation, both in his ball-carrying and work on the ground, and it has rightly resulted in a call-up to the England squad.

7. George Smith (Wasps)
How can he still be this influential at his age? Smith’s longevity is incredible when you consider that he plays in such an attritional position. Still one of the best pilferers of the ball on the ground, it has been his offloading work that has so impressed this season, contributing to Wasps’ all-court game. A worthy mention for Matt Kvesic, whose brilliant work in the Gloucester pack has gone unrewarded for too long.

8. Thomas Waldrom (Exeter Chiefs)
And last but not least, we have the Tank. Like a pig sniffing for truffles, the boisterous Kiwi has an unstoppable nose for the tryline, and although some of his scores have come from the back of powerful mauls, a lot of them have been intelligent carries, at good angles, close to the line. He has good hands and is a bizarrely difficult man to bring down when in full flow. A hefty nod to Billy Vunipola, who has perhaps become a victim of his own relentlessly high standards that his consistently good performances aren’t shouted about that much anymore.

So there you have it. An XV with which probably no-one will agree, because that is the nature of these things, isn’t it? No doubt there are several players I’ve missed out, so do let me know where I’m wrong below!

By Jamie Hosie
Follow Jamie on Twitter: @jhosie43