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Heineken Cup: Team of the weekend

Who makes it into our team from those involved in the quarter-finals?

Jack de Menezes

Monday 08 April 2013 13:30 BST

Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend

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Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend

1. Andrew Sheridan - Toulon

The former England loosehead made his return to European action having recovered from a career-threatening neck injury, and it took little time for him to return to his rampaging best. Two of Toulon's three penalty tries at the scrum came with Sheridan leading the charge, and Cardiff could do nothing about the power of the opposition in a dominant second half.

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Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend

2. Dylan Hartley - Northampton Saints

The Saints captain was as reliable as ever with his throwing, but his work in defence - with his tackle count hitting double figures - and at the breakdown gave his side a solid platform to base their attack on.

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Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend

3. James Johnston - Saracens

He may have come out on the losing side, but the Saracens prop was marvellous in a scrum that had the beating of their opposition. Referee Alain Rolland was quickly swayed by the Premiership table-toppers at scrum-time, and Johnston's beating of Schalk Ferreira was one of the main factors behind this.

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Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend

4. Yoann Maestri - Toulouse

The France international rarely took a step backwards in the loose, and he posed Steve Borthwick and Alistair Hargreaves all sorts of problems at the line-out. He could well be a thorn in the side of England come February 1.

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Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend

5. Paul O'Connell - Munster

Mr Munster was at his best in the win at Gloucester, which despite the Cherry and Reds' poor form this year still takes some doing. The delight on his face at the final whistle demonstrated the exertion that his side had put into their defence, and with the talismanic second-row leading the way, Munster could once again go all the way.

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Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend

6. Juan Smith - Toulon

Toulon may have been in the mood to attack, but it was thanks to the South African that they went in at the break ahead, with his defensive work rate unmatchable by any of his teammates.

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Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend

7. Thierry Dusautoir - Toulouse

The open-side snaffled any quick ball to prevent any chance that Saracens had to attack. Along with his partner in crime Yannick Nyanga, the flanker had the opposition stumped at the breakdown, and was key in earning seven kick able penalties for Jean-Marc Doussain.

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Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend

8. Louis Picamoles - Toulouse

Picamoles completely outmuscled the Saracens back-row and at times made it look incredibly easy. Whether it was running over Kelly Brown from the base of scrum, or karate throwing Schalk Brits over his shoulder to embarrass the hooker, Picamoles was unstoppable in all areas of his game. Saracens must be sick at the sight of a French powerhouse playing at number eight this season.

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Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend

9. Rhys Webb - Ospreys

As tempting as it is to include Danny Care for his moment of magic in the build-up to Matt Hopper's try, Webb takes the plaudits for standing out behind a pack that was clearly on the back foot. His try gave the Ospreys hope of a late fight back.

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Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend

10. Jonny Wilkinson - Toulon

The Toulon captain exchanged penalties with Leigh Halfpenny in the first half, but led his side in a destructive 10 minute period that blew the Blues out of Nice. A haul of 23 points represented a solid day's work from the fly-half. Jimmy Goperth also deserves a mention for leading Leinster's comeback in the win over Castres.

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Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend

11. George North - Northampton Saints

Just how do you stop him? North continuously came in-field looking for work, but when given just a metre to work with, he beat his opposite man and sprinted 70m for the games opening try. Not content with that, he continued to torment the Ospreys' defence for the entire 80 minutes.

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Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend

12. Wesley Fofana - Clermont Auvergne

So talented that at times he simply glides past defenders. The threat he posed to a largely inexperienced Harlequins defence saw him free up space for Sitiveni Sivivatu and co, but when he got his chance he made some impressive gains which led to Clermont's comeback win.

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Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend

13. Niki Goneva - Leicester Tigers

The Fijian back adds another dimension to the Tigers attack with his ability to power through the defence and beat his opposite man. Regularly beats the first defender, as he did on a number of occasions in the win over Treviso.

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Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend

14. Yoann Huget - Toulouse

David Smith had held this berth until the final game of the round, but Huget was tremendous in counter-attacking as part of a rampant Toulouse back three. Huget started a brilliant move from deep in their own 22 that went through a number of hands before leading to a successful penalty attempt, and also did well in defence in stopping David Strettle early on when one-on-one.

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Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend

15. Jared Payne - Ulster

A safe pair of hands at the back combined with a natural talent to take the ball forward. Payne always looked to attack with ball in hand, and Ulster are certainly looking a string proposition heading towards this year's knockout stages.

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After four nail-biting encounters on both sides of the channel, the Heineken Cup semi-finalists have now been confirmed.

Clermont Auvergne were the first to qualify, beating Montpellier to set-up a clash with two-time champions Munster, who upset the odds with an away win over Harlequins.

The second semi-final will see Aviva Premiership leaders Saracens return to Twickenham - the scene of their quarter-final victory over Ulster - to take on Top 14 table-toppers Toulon, who saw off the threat of Leicester Tigers thanks to a world famous boot.

But who made it into our Heineken Cup team of the weekend?

Click HERE or click 'VIEW GALLERY' to launch our guide

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