URC Irish Team of the Week: Conan, Casey and Forde lead the way for the provinces

Connacht won with a penalty almost at the death, Leinster had the bonus-point wrapped up in jig time and Munster kept a clean sheet in Limerick.

That meant three Irish wins out of four as Ulster had failed to live with the physicality of Bulls in Pretoria.

15. Mike Haley (Munster) - Timing, rhythm and balance in both attack and defence in atrocious condition from the player, the full-back, who is most exposed in such weather.

14. Mack Hansen (Connacht) - Another beguiling effort from the hard to pin down, this is his third week in succession to make this list. Augurs well for Ireland in November.

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13. Cathal Forde (Connacht) - Man of the Match, kicker of the match-winning penalty right at the death at Scarlets. Very much the westerners talisman at present.

12. Ben Carson (Ulster) - Tough choice to place him ahead of Munster's Bryan McCarthy but making your starting debut in Loftus Versfeld and scoring a try near the end get there.

11. Jacob Stockdale (Ulster) - Richie Murphy, Ulster fans, Andy Farrell, Ireland fans want a full return from injury. Look no further, trademark try - run, beat your man, chip, gather, score.

10. Ciaran Frawley (Leinster) - First outing, all 80 minutes as Ross Byrne came in early for Jimmy O'Brien. Level with Jack Crowley on performance, the hand-off ahead of his try was pure tough-guy

9. Craig Casey (Munster) - Scrum-halves either love or hate brutal condition and the Munster Man of the Match revelled in the rain and muck, perfectly balanced and directing operations.

1. Jeremy Loughman (Munster) - The Munster scrum was in fine shape while the Munster pack worked together as unit in defence to keep Ospreys scoreless, Lough man putting in a big shift.

2. Lee Barron (Leinster) - Ronan Kelleher had the starting jersey but, injured, was replaced by Barron after 12 minutes later. Huge energy for 68 minutes and a 78th minutes try.

3. Stephen Archer (Munster) - Something similar to Barron finding himself called on after 13 minutes when Oli Jager was forced off. Super set-piece and a hard day's graft in defence.

4. Joe McCarthy (Leinster) - Played just short of an hour but there was a big shift in terms of accries and tackles. Starting to forge and interesting partnership with RG Snyman.

5. Tadgh Beirne (Munster) - First game back and stood out in what was a fantastic collective performance by the Munster pack, covering, stealing and poaching a speciality.

6. Jack Conan (Leinster) - Third week on the spin for the industrious back-row although this time it comes with the imprimatur of the man of the match award as he crashed about in attack and defence.

7. John Hodnett (Munster) - The pick of Reds back-row, an industrious 78 minutes full of the heart and sould needed in the terrible conditions and after last's terrible collective performance

8. Caelan Doris (Leinster) - First game back in harness, not only bagging a try but also got through the full 80 minutes. Honourable mentions for Gavin Coombes and Paul Boyle too

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