{"id":277503,"date":"2025-07-20T13:53:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-20T13:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/277503\/"},"modified":"2025-07-20T13:53:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-20T13:53:08","slug":"three-england-exiles-named-in-top-14-team-of-the-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/277503\/","title":{"rendered":"Three England exiles named in Top 14 team of the season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>While England grapples with backline inconsistency and forward depth debates, three of their best performers this season aren\u2019t even eligible for selection \u2013 simply because they\u2019ve gone abroad.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/channel\/AbYd2l05pp1bM_Ix\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Join RUCK\u2019s Instagram broadcast channel\u00a0<\/a><\/strong>and get the latest rugby news straight to your phone.<\/p>\n<p>Manu Tuilagi, after ending his international career post-2024 Six Nations, has just been voted into the\u00a0<strong>Top 14 Team of the Season<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 in\u00a0<strong>his very first year<\/strong>\u00a0playing in France. <\/p>\n<p>Even more impressively, he did it despite breaking his arm in pre-season. At 34, he still dominated alongside Fijian partner Sireli Maqala, helping Bayonne storm to a fourth-place finish.<\/p>\n<p>And he\u2019s not alone.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Jack Willis<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 arguably the most in-form back-rower in Europe \u2013 was a monster for Toulouse all year. He capped it off by scoring\u00a0<strong>two tries in the Top 14 final<\/strong>\u00a0to seal a 24th league title. Still, he\u2019s invisible in an England jersey because of the RFU\u2019s overseas selection ban.<\/p>\n<p><strong>David Ribbans<\/strong>, meanwhile, has led Toulon from the front since his post-World Cup move. He, too, made the Team of the Season \u2013 another name that would be wearing white if England weren\u2019t so stubborn about foreign-based players.<\/p>\n<p>Top 14 team of the season <\/p>\n<p>15. Thomas Ramos (Toulouse) 14. Damian Penaud (Bordeaux-Begles) 13. Sireli Maqala (Bayonne) 12. Manu Tuilagi (Bayonne) 11. Louis Bielle-Biarrey (Bordeaux-Begles) 10. Matthieu Jalibert (Bordeaux-Begles) 9. Maxime Lucu (Bordeaux-Begles) 1. Jean-Baptiste Gros (Toulon) 2. Maxime Lamothe (Bordeaux-Begles) 3. Ben Tameifuna (Bordeaux-Begles) 4. David Ribbans (Toulon) 5. Thibaud Flament (Toulouse) 6. Fran\u00e7ois Cros (Toulouse) 7. Jack Willis (Toulouse) 8. Facundo Isa (Toulon)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Three Changes Andy Farrell Must Make for Lions\u2019 Second Test vs Australia<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>Here\u2019s a breakdown of the\u00a0three underperforming Lions players, their potential replacements, and\u00a0why each should be dropped\u00a0<\/strong>for the next Test based on current form and match impact.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>#1. Hugo Keenan \u2013 Fullback<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Performance Summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Rating Consensus:<\/strong>\u00a05\/10 across all outlets<\/li>\n<li><strong>Errors:<\/strong>\u00a0Two turnovers, poor under the high ball, responsible for Max Jorgensen\u2019s try<\/li>\n<li><strong>Positives:<\/strong>\u00a0Grew into the game slightly, some flashes of attacking promise<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Critique:<\/strong><br \/>Keenan struggled under pressure, especially in the aerial game \u2014 a non-negotiable at Test level. His missed contest under the high ball directly led to Australia\u2019s first try, and he looked shaky throughout when tested defensively.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Replacement: Blair Kinghorn<\/strong><br \/>If fit, Kinghorn offers more size, versatility, and attacking spark. His high ball security and counter-attacking ability could offer greater threat and reliability.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Final Verdict:<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><strong>Keenan should be dropped<\/strong>\u00a0for lack of command at the back and vulnerability under pressure, which cost the Lions territory and points. Kinghorn\u2019s more robust and dynamic style is a better fit against high-kicking sides like Australia.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ruck.co.uk\/three-england-exiles-named-in-top-14-team-of-the-season\/2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CONTINUES ON PAGE TWO<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Like this:<\/p>\n<p>Like Loading&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"sd-link-color\"\/>\t\t\t<script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While England grapples with backline inconsistency and forward depth debates, three of their best performers this season aren\u2019t&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":277504,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4102],"tags":[4151,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-277503","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114885899286442204","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277503\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}