Words published in the Irish Examiner’s Heineken Cup Quarter Final preview supplement of Friday, April 4th 2014 (print only).

15 – Mike Brown Harlequins 
Before his star turn in England’s Six Nations campaign Brown had already been chewing up the metres for Conor O’Shea’s Harlequins team. His three tries and 565m gets the nod at full back.

14 – Sitiveni Sivivatu Clermont
The first of three Clermont players in this back line, Sivivatu continues to wreak havoc in open play for Clermont Auvergne. Led the competition with 14 clean breaks and threw in 18 offloads, joint most with Brown.

13 – Wesley Fofana Clermont 
Flagrant cheating here in naming a 12 in the 13 slot. Fofana played just four games for Clermont but was his usual fleet-footed self leading all centres with 17 defenders beaten.

12 – Matt Giteau Toulon
The Australian, still just 31 years old, is not just a creative spark in the Toulon back line. In defence he made 58 tackle attempts at an excellent 91% success rate and threw in a couple of tries, conversions and penalty goals too.

11 – Napolioni Nalaga Clermont
Nalaga’s five tries and nine clean breaks gives him the edge over George North in a coin flip. On another day, North’s 22 defenders beaten and 8.5m average gain per carry get the nod.

10 – Owen Farrell Saracens
Very decent 84% goal kicking while defensively Farrell tackled at a reasonable 81% success rate, forcing six turnovers while conceding just a single penalty. Hat tip to Dan Biggar’s perfect 21 from 21 place kicking.

9 – Ruan Pienaar Ulster
The masterful South African has so many strings to his bow. The effortless passing, an average of 6m per carry and an 80% goal kicking success rate with the longest average attempt for anyone with more than 12 shots at goal (41m).

8 – Louis Picamoles Toulouse
Led the competition with 84 carries while beating 27 defenders with ball in hand, also a Heineken Cup best (George North was second with 22). Also tackled at a 92% success rate and forced a very respectable 7 turnovers.

7 Justin Tipuric Ospreys
The man in the blue scrum cap was a real nuisance to opponents in the pool stages. Sam Warburton’s understudy in the Welsh #7 shirt made 75 tackle attempts at an excellent 96% success rate combined with 15 forced turnovers.

6 – Tom Wood Northampton
The big blind side made 74 tackle attempts, missing just two and had 27 total lineout takes, most of any back row in the competition.

5 – Paul O’Connell Munster
Forced six turnovers while conceding just two and tackled at a 92% success rate. Trucked up the ball 51 times (only Grant Gilchrist and Courtney Lawes had more carries at lock).

4 – Courtney Lawes Northampton
The Northampton and England man is having an excellent season. Had a 93% tackle rate and 53 carries with an excellent seven steals at the lineout.

3 – Dan Cole Leicester
First choice tight head for the Lions, England and a Leicester scrum that did huge damage on opponent ball in the pool stages. Played an extraordinary 464 of a possible 480 minutes. Out for the season with a neck injury.

2 – Sean Cronin Leinster
His 86% throwing rate didn’t stand out but everything else did. Played the most minutes of any hooker (426) while making 5.7m per carry. Missed just a single tackle from 40 attempts.

1 – Joe Marler Harlequins
Played 457 front row minutes and gave up only two penalties in a Quins scrum that kept 92% of their own ball. Had 30 carries at an excellent 4.5m a pop for good measure.

Credit: all stats courtesy of Opta