Guinness PRO14 Dream Team 2020/21

Guinness PRO14 Dream Team 2020/21

15 Michael Lowry (Ulster)
14 Alex Wootton (Connacht)
13 Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors)
12 Damien de Allende (Munster)
11 Dave Kearney (Leinster)
10 Jack Carty (Connacht)
9 John Cooney (Ulster)

1 Eric O’Sullivan (Ulster)
2 Kevin O’Byrne (Munster)
3 Michael Bent (Leinster)
4 Billy Holland (Munster)
5 Gavin Thornbury (Connacht)
6 Josh Turnbull (Cardiff Blues)
7 Scott Penny (Leinster)
8 Marcell Coetzee (Ulster)

Total Dream Team appearances by club since 2007/08:

Leinster: 42 Ospreys: 28 Munster: 23 Glasgow Warriors: 22 Scarlets: 22 Ulster: 21 Cardiff Blues: 17 Connacht: 16 Edinburgh: 13 Benetton Rugby: 3 Toyota Cheetahs: 2 Dragons: 1

It seems very Irish heavy with a token Scot and Welsh player but I suppose it reflects the table. Suprised there is no Scarlet in the team.

It does seem pretty biased or a bit “top heavy”. Ashton Hewitt probably deserves to be in there, seeing as he’s near the top of a few stats. Considering he plays for one of the weaker teams too. Could probably make a case for Brok Harris as well.

Top points scorers (team points)
John Cooney 115 (469)
Sam Davies 113 (215)
Jack Carty 102 (396)
Sam Davies is unlucky here when you consider he scored over half his team's points. But Dragons were the lowest scoring team in the league (Zebre were second lowest with 235) so maybe it was seen he didn't create as much. Connacht were 4th highest but Munster and Leinster swapped around kickers.

Top try scores are pretty grim reading too.
9 trys - Wootten, Penny, Coetzee (all selected)
8 trys - Kearney (Selected) Coombes (competing with Coetzee)
7 trys - Andrews (competing with O'Byrne) McGrath (competing with Cooney)
6 trys - Blacker (competing with Cooney) Holmes (competing with Lowry) Kelleher, S Moore, Sheehan.
Holmes unlucky but not sure if he played enough games. Moore is still young so a matter of when rather than if.

So having a think about it I think the following happened.

Leinster, Ulster and Munster lost less games between them then the next best team in the league, so those three were always going to dominate.  Connacht finished 4th and had the most consistent team so meant they were always going to get more.
Leinster play 2 people regularly in each position so hard to stand out.
I think Munster's three players are picked not because of individual performance but team performance (none stood out but none were poor).
Glasgow player seems like a token Scot.

Due to the bigger portion on the season being internationals meant not many could build a good run of games.

The PRO14 coaches have selected Michael Bradley of Zebre as their coach of the season.

"In a shortened season, Zebre have won 25% of their PRO14 fixtures in this campaign as they seek to strengthen their young squad. In a season where recruitment in rugby has been hampered due to the pandemic, Bradley often had to call upon Italian permit players and younger academy talent due to Zebre’s double-figure contribution to Italy’s senior squad throughout the Autumn and Six Nations periods."

Ospreys’ fly-half Stephen Myler’s 86.05% accuracy from the kicking tee has earned him the Gilbert Golden Boot for the 2020/21 Guinness PRO14 campaign. Players who attempted 25 kicks or more were ranked based on their success percentage and Myler’s closest rival was Leinster’s Harry Byrne (85.71%).

Three players share the title of Top Try-Scorer for the 2020/21 Guinness PRO14 campaign with Alex Wootton (Connacht), Marcell Coetzee (Ulster) and Scott Penny (Leinster) all scoring nine tries apiece.

I think Coetzee has a strong chance for being called up for the British and Irish Lions series