Who’s hot and who’s not: Champions Cup star performers, unbeatable England and reckless red cards

Take a bow, Robert! The Ulster wing’s hat-trick of tries helped his side seal an all-important win at Toulouse on Saturday in the European Champions Cup and boost his hopes of breaking into Andy Farrell’s Ireland XV ahead of the 2023 World Cup. Baloucoune was outstanding throughout, causing significant problems with ball in hand, but his third try was his most impressive. In the 66th minute, with Ulster under pressure, he showed his defensive skills and instinct to intercept a wide pass from Antoine Dupont from within the Ulster 22 and run the length of the pitch unimpeded. The Toulouse fans weren’t happy but Baloucoune was clearly onside and that try could be crucial ahead of the return match in Belfast.

Gotta love an intercept @Rob_Baloucoune pic.twitter.com/98JxXdGfgo

— UlsterRugbySP (@UlsterRugbySP) April 9, 2022

Leicester Tigers: The Premiership outfit deserve plenty of praise after they delivered an outstanding performance en route to their 29-10 triumph over Clermont Auvergne in Sunday’s round-of-16 first leg encounter at the Stade Marcel-Michelin. The result was a momentous one as it is the first time in 17 years that Leicester have managed to beat Clermont away from home. It also sets the Tigers up nicely for the second leg at Welford Road this Saturday as they take a commanding 19-point advantage into that encounter.

Job done on the road.

On to next week. #ASMvLEI #COYT pic.twitter.com/ik4KFEGYdH

— Leicester Tigers (@LeicesterTigers) April 10, 2022

It was quite the message to send to England head coach Eddie Jones, who decided to discard the then Bath number eight following their international against Japan in 2018. Mercer continued to play well for the West Country outfit but another call-up was not