Week 9 of the Guinness Pro14 produced some scintillating rugby, and significant results as trail blazing Leinster continued their unbeaten run in the competition. After conceding 6 tries at home to Ulster in Week 8, their miserly defence was back to its combative best in the Inter Pro derby at Munster, shutting the men in red out in terms of tries in a 13-6 win at Thomond Park. It’s getting harder and harder to advise on Leinster players to pick in your Fantasy teams, not just on the array of fabulous performances but also on the selection front. Leo Cullen has an embarrassment of riches to pick from. At Munster it was Caelan Doris who picked up the Man of the Match award after a fine defensive display that saw him grab two crucial turnovers. Will Connors again impressed with 23 tackles, ranked 2nd for the week across all games. The Byrne’s did the damage on the scoreboard with Ed Byrne grabbing the games only try and out half Ross Byrne doing the rest. Week 10 sees Leinster come home to face Connacht and surely another win that will see them 10 from 10 in Conference A. Ulster remain in 2nd in Conference A after dispatching Connacht at the Kingspan Stadium with 5 more tries. But it was top tackling Sean Reidy who stood out with a 24 tackle Man of the Match performance. Reidy now sits top of the Guinness PRO14 tackle charts for the season on 124 tackles, ahead of nearest rival Ospreys’ Olly Cracknell on 112. Will Addison’s return from suspension may have caught your attention too. He made the most carries of anyone for the week and ranked 3rd in metres made, 95 to be precise behind wingers Ryan Conbeer of Scarlets and Duhan van der Merwe of Edinburgh. Addison also grabbed 3 clean breaks but not as many as his fellow Ulsterman Robert Baloucoune who cut through 5 times. It was a miserable week for Connacht though with no players featuring in the top 20 carries or metres made and only Paul Boyle registering any significant Fantasy points with 17 tackles. The men in green did manage to steal 4 lineouts though with 2 for Joe Maksymiw and 1 apiece for Ultan Dillane and Boyle.
