Marcus Smith and Ben Earl Selected for Our Premiership Team of the Week in Round Three

There has once again been plenty of stand out talents to chose from, as we select Ruck's Team of the Week for the third round of the Gallagher Premiership. Two Saracens stars retain their place in the XV, as the Men in Black remain to be the most in form side in the league.

Despite coming away on the losing side of the score-line, Exeter fullback Josh Hodge was a shining light on a dark day for the Chiefs. Hodge tore up the StoneX artificial turf with a series of searching runs, and bagged himself two tries on the day. Hodge's quick thinking turned a charge down into his try, with his second being a walk in finish. Couple this with his solid conversions, and the 24-year-old continues to add strings to his bow.

Sale Sharks wing Tom Roebuck entered this weekend full of momentum, after being named in Steve Borthwick's wider training squad for the pre-Autumn Series training camp. Roebuck will be out to build upon his one previous England cap, and was flying for their Sharks in their win against Gloucester on Friday evening. Roebuck contributed to tries to the impressive points tally, as Alex Sanderson's men bounced back from the previous defeat to Saracens.

The new arrival at Welford Road lived up to the hype, as Australian centre Izaia Perese put in a stand out effort in the win against Newcastle Falcons. Watching the match live was Ruck's Midland's Reporter George Wellbelove, who gave his thoughts on Perese's efforts at Kingston Park.

"Leicester’s star signing of the summer produced a great showing of aggression and forward running. The last two matches vs Exeter Chiefs and Bath were defined by his haphazard style of play. However, Perese was able to gain control over his unpredictable nature and become more tenacious. A strong performance overall from the Australian."

Benhard Janse van Rensburg put in a scintillating performance in the win against Bath, with the South African back hitting his top strides in the Premiership's midfield. Constantly a threat against the blue, black and white's gain-line, van Rensburg powered over for a try just before the half hour mark, as he helped the visitors get a stronghold in the West Country derby.

Continuing to push on from strength to strength for Saracens, Tobias Elliot impressed with his third Premiership try in as many games for the North Londoners. The 21-year-old has now dotted down against Gloucester, Sale Sharks and Exeter Chiefs, with his most recent try coming in fine fashion. Retaining his place in Ruck's Team of the Week, Elliott missed out on the Autumn Series training squad, but Six Nations nod with England could be in his future if he keeps up this form.

In the battle of the Smiths that took centre stage on Friday night, Marcus and Fin faced off as the two fly halves led out their respective Harlequins and Northampton Saints. Whilst it was Fin's Saints that marched triumphantly on with the win, Marcus put in the better performance of the too halfbacks, with two tries, solid kicking and an all-round classy playmaking approach, taking him up a rung in the perceived England fly half pecking order this Autumn.

The Welsh scrum half is another player to retain their spot in Ruck's Team of the Week, after being the best man on the pitch in Gloucester's epic 44-41 win over Bristol. Williams kicked on with such momentum, and was over to score two tries in Gloucester's hard-fought defeat to Sale Sharks this past Friday night.

The third and final player to retain their place in Ruck's Team of the Week, Saracens prop Rhys Carre is amongst the most consistent loose-heads in the Premiership at the moment. The Welshman could well get the nod for an inclusion in Warren Gatland's Autumn Series squad, as he once again got the better of his opposite man, as the Sarries pack overwhelmed the travelling Chiefs forwards.

With three tries in his past two Premiership matches, there is plenty of backing behind Luke Cowan-Dickie's recent re-calling to the England training squad. Re-wind a year and it looked like the hooker was finished with the England team, following his link to Montpellier, but now he is paving the way as Alex Sanderson's first choice hooker, with a brace against Newcastle.

The Bristol tight-head was tasked to go head-to-head with Ben Obano at the scrum, and proved his qualities by getting the better of the England fringe prop. Obano has since been left out of the England squad for the Autumn Series camp, and you would wander how much of the final decision came down to Lahiff's impressive manhandling of the Bath loose-head.

The Bristolians go back to back in our team of the week, with lock James Dun given the go ahead for the number four jersey. With an honourable mention in store for Dun's engine room partner Joe Batley, Dun's red scrum cap was constantly in the contact area. With a tireless work rate that racked up an impressive heat map, Dun's 12 tackles and countless breakdown involvements impressed the purists in his 72 minute shift.

Ruck Midland's Reporter George Wellbelove said: "A man of the match performance from the Leicester captain capped off a fine showing. Nine carries, 37 metres made with gain-line success being achieved six times through his work. Chessum will be extremely pleased and is surely going to take a starting spot in England’s Autumn Internationals." Speaking after the game, Chessum said to TNT Sports: ‘It’s always tough coming up (to Newcastle). We came out wanting to make a statement…we kept scoring and I am really proud of the boys.’

Ben Earl was at his brilliant best for Saracens, with the all-action back row even cropping up on the StoneX scoreboard. Earl powered his way to the line on two occasions, with his 10-point contribution going a long way towards Saracens' overall win. Earl made 11 tackles in his 67 minute outing, and England fans are excited to see such a key figure of Borthwick's side hit his stride ahead of the Autumn Series.

Our fourth and final Bristol Bear that makes up the Team of the Week, Santiago Grondona had a stunning performance at the Rec. In what was the Argentine's long awaited Bristol Bears debut, despite having been with the club since the previous Summer, Grondona has put the knee injury woes behind him, and will be out to only build on this dominant display in future Bristol appearances.

Ruck Northampton Saints Reporter Ben Grundy watched on, as Sam Graham took home the Player of the Match award from Franklin's Gardens. Sam Graham was listed in the top three performers of the fixture, alongside the duelling fly halves Marcus and Fin Smith.

Northampton Saints Director of Rugby Phil Dowson commended the number eight's man of the match performance: “I think if the game had gone another way, I think Will Evans and Marcus Smith (could have got man of the match). But yeah Sam kept turning up, carried a lot of ball and looked like he made a lot of dents and you know what you are getting from Sam, his work-rate is outstanding.”