Planet Rugby Team of the HEC Tournament 2011/12

[TriGav]

Heineken Cup Team of the Tournament

15 Rob Kearney (Leinster): The Ireland full-back's ERC Player of the Year award speaks for itself. That said, if this team had been picked after the pool stages it would have been tough to leave out Mike Brown, who scored five tries for Harlequins. But Kearney was sublime in the knock-out matches, scoring twice in the quarter-final against Cardiff to move his tally to six before setting up the match-changing try against Clermont in the semis.

14 Timoci Matanavou (Toulouse): Despite a few errors - most notably at Murrayfield in the quarter-finals - we couldn't ignore the tournament's top try scorer. The fast-improving Fijian finished with eight touchdowns. Mentions too for Sitiveni Sivivatu and Andrew Trimble.

13 Aurélien Rougerie (Clermont): A tough decision to make as there weren't many stand-out 13s. Brian O'Driscoll was brilliant on his return, but he only played three games. Rougerie, however, was a consistent threat in midfield in all seven of his appearances.

12 Wesley Fofana (Clermont): We don't expect too many arguments here, even if Fofana missed the most crucial try of the year by half an inch. The 24-year-old is arguably the most dangerous runner in Europe at the moment, and he's only getting better. Mentions too for the Scarlets' Jonathan Davies and Ashley Beck, who scored four tries for the Ospreys.

11 Tim Visser (Edinburgh): With a double strike against Racing Metro and a total of four tries in the tournament, the Pro12 Player of the Year highlighted why he is considered the best thing to come out of Holland since sliced gouda. Craig Gilroy was excellent for Ulster and can consider himself unlucky to have been overlooked for Ireland's June touring squad.

10 Jonathan Sexton (Leinster): The 26-year-old was this season's top points scorer. But you don't win the title by just kicking over points and Sexton ticked all the boxes in the playmaker's role. We liked the look of Greig Laidlaw too.

9 Ruan Pienaar (Ulster): No hesitation here. Pienaar was unlucky not to be named as European club rugby's best player. A Springbok call-up is expected.

8 Netani Talei (Edinburgh): The Fijian international played a massive role in getting Edinburgh to the semi-finals, bagging three tries along the way. Pedrie Wannenburg had a strong season for Ulster, but will not be happy with his performance in the final.

7 Sean O'Brien (Leinster): The hardest position to pick with a number candidates making strong cases, especially Julien Bonnaire and Mamuka Gorgodze. In the end, O'Brien's try in the final along with the Man of the Match gong at Twickenham tipped the scales in his favour.

6 Stephen Ferris (Ulster): Probably the only other realistic contender for the ERC Player of the Year award. Ferris started all nine games for Ulster and 'tireless' does not even begin to describe his efforts in and around the rucks. He put his body on the line like no other. Peter O'Mahony has a bright future for Munster while Gerhard Vosloo impressed for Clermont before injury cut his season short.

5 Nathan Hines (Clermont): No need to teach this dog any new tricks, the old ones are still working just fine. A big man was required to fill the gap left at Leinster and Brad Thorn's arrival in Dublin came at a crucial time.

4 Johann Muller (Ulster): Muller's stats for tackles made and line-outs won boggle the mind. He might be from South Africa, but the Ulster skipper's selfless contribution has made him the toast of Belfast.

3 John Afoa (Ulster): The All Black import has made a huge impact in his first season in the northern hemisphere, adding some real grunt to the Ulster front row. A mention too for Clermont's Davit Zirakashvili.

2 Rory Best (Ulster): Quite literally at the centre of Ulster's forward effort, Best played all nine games for the losing finalists and seldom put a foot wrong. Richardt Strauss also had a strong campaign for Leinster.

1 Cian Healy (Leinster) : The scorer of the only try in Leinster's nail-biting semi-final in Bordeaux before touching down again in an excellent display the final, Healy played a key role in both tight and the loose.

[Big-al]

Lets hope Ruan doesn't get selected for the Springboks. He'll be missing his 3rd pre-season in a row with Ulster.

[Snipe Watson]

At the RWC Ruan and Johann followed JD's training programme, not the Springbok programme. Real Ulstermen

[Rooster]

At the RWC Ruan and Johann followed JD's training programme, not the Springbok programme. Real Ulstermen

Snipe it was probably safer for them to follow JD's programme than the Bok one as JD would have made them do it all over again and put them in the sand dunes for a week if they had ignored him

[stickinout]

Great to see so many Ulstermen getting some recognition.

[breakdown]

Just realised more Ulstermen than Leinstermen!

[damianmcr]

Great to see so many Ulstermen getting some recognition.

Indeed

[Mac]

Particularly glad to see Rory get the recognition. Since his return from
the serious neck injury his consistency and performance levels have
been second to none. Always one of our outstanding performers.

[stickinout]

Just realised more Ulstermen than Leinstermen!

Indeed Moral victory?

[stickinout]

Particularly glad to see Rory get the recognition. Since his return from
the serious neck injury his consistency and performance levels have
been second to none. Always one of our outstanding performers.

Have to say i was one of the ones that thought we'd seen the best of Rory and that he wouldn't be the same after the op.... I guess he wasn't the same........ he's even better. Anybody else think he should be utilised for Ulster the way Ireland have been using his soft hands?

[Snipe Watson]

Just realised more Ulstermen than Leinstermen!

Indeed Moral victory?

I'd just as soon have had the actual victory and stuff the moral one..........

[breakdown]

Well it is the taking part that counts snipe...

[BR]

Just realised more Ulstermen than Leinstermen!

Indeed Moral victory?

I think Leinster would still win on the pitch though - that's the scary thing.

[Loki]

no arguments with that team. It'd be great to see a Heino select take on the SH equivalent, a club version of the Lions or something similar.

Failing that a Heino select v Leinster would be class (for friendly purposes) also - some of the World XI's you get in football testimonials are the biz. Maybe if there's a City of Culture game in 2013 we could have Ulster v the BaaBaas or something along those lines.

[Scranner]

Brilliant to see so may Ulster players in this but from a UR perspective it means little. The problem is that we don't (at the moment) have the same strength in depth that the like of Leinster do. When that happens (and I believe it will) we will be unbeatable.