The PRO14 Dream Team for the 2020/21 season has been selected by the media and three Connacht players have been selected
Alex Wooton who was the joint top try-scorer, Jack Carty, and Gavin Thornbury have all made it into the team of the season. The surprising thing is none of the seven players between Connacht and Ulster that made the Dream Team were involved with the Irish camp for the Six Nations. I suppose you can’t blame Andy Farrell for not picking Marcell Coetzee.
Out of the 12 teams the competed in this campaign six are represented and four of those sides had multiple selections. With Irish teams finishing in the top two positions in both Guinness PRO14 Conferences, that feat is recognised by 13 selections coming from the provinces with Cardiff Blues and Glasgow Warriors the other representatives.
Ulster lead the way with four selections, Connacht, Leinster and Munster see three players each included with Cardiff and Warriors earning one each. Media were free to vote for any player they wished as long as they had made 8 appearances in the 2020/21 campaign.
Many of the players selected feature prominently in the Opta stats. Top try-scorers (9) Alex Wootton, Scott Penny and Marcell Coetzee are all named. Leading points scorer John Cooney (115), who also topped the assists list (13), was voted in at scrum-half. In midfield, Huw Jones was third for offloads (14) and second for defenders beaten (36) while in the back row Josh Turnbull led the competition for most tackles made (215). At No 8 Coetzee also led in the offload ranks with 20.
DREAM TEAM SELECTED
15 Michael Lowry (Ulster)
14 Alex Wootton (Connacht)
13 Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors)
12 Damien de Allende (Munster)
11 Dave Kearney (Leinster)
10 Jack Carty (Connacht)
9 John Cooney (Ulster)
8 Marcell Coetzee (Ulster)
7 Scott Penny (Leinster)
6 Josh Turnbull (Cardiff Blues)
5 Gavin Thornbury (Connacht)
4 Billy Holland (Munster)
3 Michael Bent (Leinster)
2 Kevin O’Byrne (Munster)
1 Eric O’Sullivan (Ulster)
Total Dream Team appearances by club since 2007/08:
Leinster: 42
Ospreys: 28
Munster: 23
Glasgow Warriors: 22
Scarlets: 22
Ulster: 21
Cardiff Blues: 17
Connacht: 16
Edinburgh: 13
Benetton Rugby: 3
Toyota Cheetahs: 2
Dragons: 1
