2. Ben Spencer – Bath
Bath scrum half Ben Spencer is the first of two star performances in blue, black and white, that have made their way onto our list, following top outings over the weekend. Spencer has had an excellent first eight weeks in the Gallagher Premiership, and heads into the Champions Cup break with five tries all together. Despite not seeing an England jersey since the 2019 Rugby World Cup Final, Spencer’s top showings in the West Country should have caught the eye of Steve Borthwick by now.
Spencer distributed Finn Russell with excellent quick-ball, as the halfbacks interlinked to tear through the Exeter Chiefs defence. Spencer was ever-ready to supply the ammunition to his first receiver, yet his starring moment at the Rec saw him go alone and back his pace. The 31-year-old picked the ball from the back of a scrum, and expertly sold the dummy before cutting back and attacking the blindside. Spencer squared up to the covering Josh Hodge, and forced the winger to commit to the tackle.
Spencer then flung a nice pass out wide to Joe Cokanasiga, who exploded along the left touchline. The winger skipped passed the covering tackle of Stu Townsend, before a nice inside pop pass found Spencer’s supporting line, who wrapped up a well-worked try. Spencer has long been overlooked for international duties, yet remains eligible for England whilst the likes of his 2019 Japan colleagues Ben Youngs and Willi Heinz have called time on their test match tenures. A return to the England fold could be in Spencer’s near future, if he continues in such fine form for Bath.
3. Harry Randall – Bristol Bears (Honourable Mention – Harry Thacker)
We stick with the scrum-halves for the next entry, as Harry Randall had a stunning performance for Bristol Bears last weekend. Randall had a starring role in the West Country triumph over Gloucester, and set Ashton Gate alight with some high-octane attacking play. Randall scored twice in the win against the Cherry and Whites, with his first score coming at a time of constant pressure for the visitors. Randall perfectly sold the dummy to Dan Thomas, which revealed a gap in the Gloucester line that he skipped through, to score the Bears’ third try in the opening 25 minutes.
Randall’s second score was even more impressive, and presented his skillset from the boot. Randall caught the Gloucester defence off-guard following a penalty, and sent a neat chip and chase into the back-field. The speedster was able to regather the ball, and strode over to score a classy solo try which put the game beyond all doubt. Randall also presented his status amongst Bristol’s leadership group for the second half, as he took over the reins at captaincy, in the absence of a withdrawn Fitz Harding.
We have to give an honourable mention to Harry Thacker, who’s barn-storming performance saw him become the all-time leading Bristol Bears try scorer. Thacker crossed over for his 35th Bristol try from the back of a rolling maul, as the Bears capitalised on the extra man advantage following Ruan Ackermann’s dismissal. Thacker put in quite the shift, and ended the round as joint-first for metres made, clocking up 91m alongside his Gloucester opponent Louis Rees-Zammit.