Find out which players ranked highest in the Opta Index to earn selection in our first Team of the Week of 2026.
From a blizzard in Belfast to South African sunshine, the new year saw its first rugby action over the weekend and there was a feast of excellent attacking rugby on show.
Northampton, Stade Rochelais, Montpellier and Bordeaux-Begles all hit a half century of points but were those free-scoring performances enough to see their players rewarded with a spot in this week’s European Club Rugby Team of the Week?
Here, we break down the selected XV, alongside Opta’s Star Player of the Week and several other standout performers who forced their way into the lineup.
Opta’s Star Player of the Week
Having topped the rankings after the opening round of the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup, Matthieu Jalibert has done so again, making him our first Star Player of 2026.
The Bordeaux-Begles playmaker has been in the form of his life this season and showed his class once again against Racing 92 on Saturday, scoring a try and assisting a further two as his side recorded a resounding win.
He carried the ball 20 times – more than any back across the Big Three leagues over the weekend – while also registering a joint-high four offloads. No fly-half matched his totals for metres gained (88), line breaks (two) or defenders beaten (10), further highlighting his all-round influence.
As always, his distribution and ability to put the players around him into space was excellent. He assisted five line breaks, more than any other player across the TOP 14, Premiership Rugby or the URC at the weekend. It’s the second time he’s assisted 5+ line breaks in a game this season; no other player has managed that feat more than once.
The Best of the Rest
Our two wingers – Jamie Dobie and Elliott Obatoyinbo – made four line breaks at the weekend, with George Hendy and Kalaveti Ravouvou the only other players to equal that across the Big Three leagues.
Dobie and Obatoyinbo recorded similar stats for Glasgow and Newcastle respectively, both making 13 carries, gaining over 100 metres and beating five defenders in addition to their impressive line breaks tally. Dobie added two tries and an assist against Zebre, while Obatoyinbo’s tally of 12 tackles was at least two more than any other winger.
In the pack, Alex Coles and Barnabe Massa both dotted down three times, two of just three players to score a hat-trick over the weekend, alongside Montpellier hooker Christopher Tolofua.
Coles’ hat-trick was the first by a second row in Prem Rugby since Jonny Hill managed it for Exeter Chiefs in August 2020, while the Saints lock also assisted a try to cap off an excellent performance.
Similarly, Coles’ teammate in the Northampton engine room, Danilo Fischetti scored twice for Saints against Harlequins. In doing so, he became just the second prop in the English top flight to score more than once in a match this season after Thomas du Toit who managed it for Bath, against Northampton, just a week earlier.
In the back row, Sam Simmonds gained the most metres of any forward across the Big Three leagues (108) while Levani Botia made the most line breaks of any forward (3) and was one of just six to both score and assist a try at the weekend.
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European Rugby Team of the Week: Classy Jalibert Takes Top Spot Opta Analyst.
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