Who is in my Premiership team of the season?

Not an easy shirt to find the standout for this year, but Henry Slade (above) grabs it. He played 15 matches for Exeter Chiefs, with 13 starts at No13, and has added some serious bulk to his frame. He is happy to go hard to the line, runs inside-shoulder lines and always loves an offload. He has an excellent kicking game, which will keep getting better. Every time I found myself watching Saracens I found myself marvelling at the durability, toughness, and close-to-zero error count of Brad Barritt. Saracens encountered a tough patch, with injuries and form, but Barritt simply kept moving forward. What a hero. This might be one of my easiest selections. Danny Cipriani (below) has ripped teams apart this season. There is a valid argument to say that he is only a part of an electric Wasps back line. But he has been so incisive with his passing and able to see the right option in the face of the opposition. Cipriani has had good defenders guessing where the ball is going. Class. Ross Harrison has taken my Alex Waller award. Waller went season after season without missing a game for Northampton Saints and Harrison is everpresent in a Sale Sharks team who have had a real go this year. Nearly 300 tackles, with a 95 per cent completion rate, gives him the third most tackles in the league, and he is top for a prop. Five more starts at loosehead than his nearest competitor, too. Kyle Cooper, injured recently, was instrumental as Newcastle Falcons went on the charge up the table. He delivered double-digit turnovers at the breakdowns, coupled with great energy and dynamism in his carries. He never takes a backward step and, when Newcastle have had the occasional wobble this season, it was Cooper who delivered their momentum. Juan Figallo started the year as Vincent Koch’s understudy and has not missed a game, starting in the No 3 jersey or off the substitutes’ bench. He looks like your classic Argentine lump, but does the lot out there, with handles, jackals, turnovers and carries. Jono Ross, like his club colleague Ross Harrison, is an ever-present. A sensationally tough ball carrier with real variety in his game. He can win you an inch in the dogfight or play out wide in the 15-metre channels. He has great hands, is a top line-out athlete and tackles anything, topping the tackle count in the league with 321. Ross might be my signing of the year. Nightmare selection here, but Thomas Young tops the lot. One of the players I cannot bamboozle you with stats. He doesn’t top many charts and has produced only 10 turnovers, but I have not seen him have a bad game. He instinctively gets in the right places, makes excellent decisions and is integral to the pace of Wasps’ play by being an awesome link man between forwards and backs.