Dallaglio impressed by Care

There are seven unbeaten teams remaining in the two tournaments, Harlequins, Toulon and ASM Clermont Auvergne in the Heineken Cup and Gloucester Rugby, London Wasps, Bath Rugby and Stade Francais Paris in the Amlin Challenge Cup.

Unsurprisingly we can see a strong selection of their players in the top performers on the Amlin Opta Index this season.
With the RBS 6 Nations just around the corner, and a Lions tour for the British and Irish players on the horizon, these next two rounds of fixtures will provide the perfect shop-window for those looking to stake a claim for a place in their respective national teams.

One English player who has impressed me has been Danny Care. The scrum-half has been competing with Ben Youngs for the England shirt over recent seasons and another couple of dominant displays at the highest level of club rugby could give him the edge.

He is currently the third ranked back based on the AOI this season, having crossed for four tries and made an average gain of 10 metres per carry so far. The Armitage brothers have also continued to impress over in France.

Both are ranked in the top 10 for their respective positions (forwards & backs), with Delon in fact the leading back overall. Steffon is the sixth ranked forward so far, making 45 carries (two tries) and completing 96% of the tackles he has attempted in his four appearances for Toulon this season.