Best XV in World Rugby for Weekend of January 15-17

The knockout stages of the 2015-16 Champions Cup began to take shape this weekend after three teams guaranteed their places in the tournament's last eight.

Aviva Premiership giants Saracens and Leicester Tigers will be joined by Top 14 high-flyers Racing 92 in the next phase of the competition following three dazzling wins in the penultimate round of the pool stage.

Racing impressed in particular this weekend thanks to a 64-14 win over Scarlets—the biggest points haul managed by any team in this season's tournament—while Saracens and Leicester defeated Ulster and Treviso, respectively.

Those weren't the only performances that entertained, however, and regardless of how their teams fared, we've broken down the best individual displays of the weekend to assemble our finest XV.

Back Three

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15. Benjamin Lapeyre, La Rochelle

Racing 92 full-back Brice Dulin is sorely unfortunate not to bust into our XV after his performance against Scarlets, but La Rochelle's Benjamin Lapeyre was a rare bright spark in their 20-10 defeat at Gloucester.

The No. 15 beat a massive 12 defenders from 17 carries for a total of 159 metres, scoring La Rochelle's only try of their trip in the 54th minute.

14. Louis Dupichot, Racing 92

Dulin misses out, but Racing back-three team-mate Louis Dupichot certainly does not after he scored the best try of the 11 scored at Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir on Sunday.

Starting from his own 22, Dupichot wormed his way through the Scarlets defence for a long-range solo effort, beating six defenders in all for a haul of 104 metres, as well as making six tackles, missing none.

11. Hallam Amos, Newport Gwent Dragons

Wales coach Warren Gatland will undoubtedly have noticed Hallam Amos scoring within 50 seconds of his first game of the season last Friday, when Newport Gwent Dragons notched a 31-18 win over Castres in the Challenge Cup.

Amon made a triumphant return after injuring his shoulder in the World Cup, making no fewer than five clean breaks and managing 118 metres with ball in hand.

Speaking to BBC Sport after his dream return, he said:

"

You think about it the night before and that's exactly what you want. (It was) a great break by Sarel (Pretorius) and a lovely ball by Jason Tovey. 

In rugby you will pick up injuries, though it's been tough watching the boys. 

But I can't ask for much more than that with my first touch back after three months.

"

Centres

13. Garry Ringrose, Leinster

The Garry Ringrose hype train is increasing in speed and showing no sign of stopping, it seems, and the Leinster centre once again starred as the Irish side ended Bath's Champions Cup campaign in Dublin.

He doesn't turn 21 until later this month, but Leinster's emerging prodigy led his team in tackles made with 11, and only winger Isa Nacewa (129) made more metres with ball in hand than Ringrose (95), who also tied the match-high for defenders beaten (four).

12. Casey Laulala, Racing 92

The ex-Munster man still has some considerable kinks in his defensive game, having missed four of his attempted six tackles against Scarlets, but a hat-trick of tries saw Casey Laulala's attacking value outweigh anything else.

Laualala benefited from Dan Carter's expertise at inside centre and soared over for three scores, leading French newspaper Midi Olympique to vote him Player of the Weekend, per Rugby World's Gavin Mortimer.

Half-Backs

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10. Dan Carter, Racing 92

The New Zealander may not suit up in his weekend hub of inside centre, but Carter still did enough to claim his natural No. 10 jersey after a display that showed plenty of fly-half nuances throughout.

Carter was perfect with the boot, slotting five conversions and a penalty, to go hand-in-hand with a direct playmaker's performance that consistently put Racing on the front foot in their one-sided mauling of Scarlets. 

9. Ben Youngs, Leicester Tigers

Scrum-halves are often the wiliest of characters on any pitch, and Ben Youngs showed some of that trademark initiative when he raced away for a quick lineout score in Leicester's 47-7 thrashing of Treviso, per BT Sport.

Back Row

8. Billy Vunipola, Saracens

There was a lengthy list of sterling No. 8 performances this weekend, but Billy Vunipola helped open the floodgates in a valuable 33-17 win over Ulster that sealed Saracens' place in the Champions Cup quarter-finals.

The England international bust over for Saracens' first try on Saturday, beating six defenders from a massive tally of 19 carries, with elder brother Mako (17) the only other player to get near that figure.

7. Jack Clifford, Harlequins

One of the uncapped debutants ready to prove himself in Eddie Jones' England squad is Jack Clifford, and the back-rower continued his fine run of form in Harlequins' 34-26 win over Cardiff Blues in the Challenge Cup.

Saturday's display saw Clifford muster 12 tackles to go along with his 66 carrying metres, beating five opponents and making two clean breaks, with only full-back Mike Brown having more offensive input. 

6. Sam Jones, Wasps

Toulon's Champions Cup title defence got back on track with a 15-11 win over Wasps on Sunday, and although Juan Smith enjoyed a tremendous outing for the hosts, Sam Jones' defensive shift shouldn't be so easily glazed over.

Playing opposite a veteran like Smith, Wasps blindside Jones contributed an incredible 24 tackles for the losing side, and he was unfortunate to see his efforts result in nothing more than a losing bonus point.

Second Row

5. Alun Wyn Jones, Ospreys

Alun Wyn Jones' fine show of sportsmanship was one topic nobody could stop raving about this weekend after he was spotted asking referee Wayne Barnes not to sin bin an opponent guilty of elbowing him in the face.

As if that wasn't impressive enough, the Wales lock enjoyed a phenomenal display outside the ref's quarters and led Ospreys to a 21-13 win over Clermont Auvergne, registering a gargantuan 20 tackles. 

4. Maro Itoje, Saracens

What better way to celebrate your first call-up to the England squad than to carry on doing exactly what it is you've been doing to garner that attention in the first place?

That appeared to be Maro Itoje's method of thinking after he starred in Saracens' 33-17 defeat of Ulster, where the lock finished with one try to his name, two defenders beaten from 11 carries and six tackles in total.

Front Row

3. Brok Harris, Newport Gwent Dragons

Castres No. 8 Mathieu Babillot (13) was the only player who managed to make more tackles than Dragons tighthead Brok Harris last Friday (12), where the prop starred as a key cog in defence for the hosts.

Not only that, but Harris helped steer a near-faultless scrum for Newport, not to mention racking up 18 carrying metres from his six runs. 

2. Mike Sherry, Munster

Munster hooker Mike Sherry was first on the scoresheet in the Irish province's revenge win over Stade Francais, piling on the back of a driving haul to get his team's account up and running on Saturday.

Sherry also threw well at the lineout, and no other Munster forward beat his tally of 24 metres made with ball in hand. 

1. Jefferson Poirot, Bordeaux

Bordeaux's set piece—and the lineout in particular—played a big hand in the 34-27 win over Exeter Chiefs this weekend, and loosehead Jefferson Poirot was heavily involved throughout.

"Heavy" being the operative word for the prop, who recently received his first call-up to the France squad, bulldozing his way to beating three defenders and making four offloads from 12 runs in total.

All statistics come courtesy of ESPN Scrum.