Following the conclusion of round five of the 2026/27 PREM Rugby season, here is the latest Planet Rugby Team of the Week.

There were big wins for Leicester Tigers, Harlequins, Saracens, Bath and Northampton Saints across the weekend, with the league now heading into hibernation ahead of the start of the Nations Championship.

Without further ado, here is who made our PREM XV!

PREM Rugby Team of the Week

15 George Furbank (Harlequins): A close call to kick things off, with Bath’s Man of the Match Tom de Glanville very close to getting the nod, but George Furbank just sneaks in ahead. The full-back was in inspired form against Exeter Chiefs, proving a real point of difference in attack with his floating running lines and ability to act as that extra link with his playmaking touches. This will no doubt have impressed Steve Borthwick, and at a timely junction too, given it is only a week out from the start of the Nations Championship.

14 Joe Cokanasiga (Bath): Served up a real reminder of his quality in Bath’s win over Sale Sharks on Saturday night. Looked powerful, quick and genuinely threatening ball-in-hand, bursting the Sale line open with what felt like every carry, and just made himself an increasingly big weapon all afternoon. Noah Caluori was not far off after his impressive cameo for Saracens.

13 Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints): Just as the conversation seems to be around the Freeman at 13 experiment coming to an end, he moves back to midfield and has a stormer! Gave Northampton a slightly different threat to normal in his new spot, given he could just get his hands on the ball as much as possible and make significant dents in the process, and overall just looked the business in a strong afternoon. Would have certainly given Borthwick food for thought as well. Ollie Lawrence had a nice day of it for Bath as well.

12 Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints): It’s a Saints double-act in midfield this weekend, with Fraser Dingwall impressing alongside Freeman this weekend. Just seemed to really grab the game by the scruff of the neck in a contest that needed someone to do just that, and injected some lovely bits of play into their attack as a result. It was a decent weekend for inside centres, though, with Sione Va’enuku and Seb Atkinson both catching the eye.

11 Henry Arundell (Bath): There’s also a club double act on the wings, with Henry Arundell joining fellow Bath man Cokanasiga out wide. This was some way for him to announce his return to the field, both for Bath but also for Borthwick ahead of the Nations Championship, with his customary showing of lightning pace leading to a special try and he backed that up with some nice efforts around the park for good measure. Cadan Murley and Louis Rees-Zammit also impressed.

10 Billy Searle (Leicester Tigers): The headache of the week probably came at fly-half, with Marcus Smith and Charlie Atkinson nearly making the cut, but Billy Searle is our man. The Leicester man was the true heartbeat of his side’s win over Bristol Bears, guiding them around the park effortlessly and producing some bits of magic off the boot with his assists plural. Just lots to like about the way he went about things on Friday night, as he edges closer to that England phone call.

9 Lucas Friday (Harlequins): Could have been any of the Quins nines, with Will Porter having some lovely efforts in the first-half, but the young hotshot made serious impact off the bench. It wasn’t that he changed the way Quins were playing; rather, he seemed to double down on it and really brought the best out of those around him in the process. Bodes well that he got a real tune out of their deadly playmaking axis as well.

8 Lucas Schmid (Harlequins): A very big game from the increasingly impressive back-rower, who edges out Olly Cracknell, Callum Chick and Josh Bayliss in the process. His two tries will take the headlines, powering his side’s second-half fightback, but he backed that up with some monstrous work in the tight and yet again showed he has the dog needed to succeed at this level. Very nice afternoon in Devon for the 22-year-old.

7 Miles Reid (Bath): Speaking of imperious efforts, Miles Reid certainly delivered one of his own in Bath’s win over Sale Sharks. This was as complete a back-row performance as you’ll see in the PREM, mixing up strong, gritty defence and breakdown work with a desire to get his hands on the ball as much as possible in attack, and that set the tone for the rest of his side to follow on Saturday. Luke Ivanishvili and Tom Pearson went well too.

6 Nathan Michelow (Saracens): Rock-solid back-rowery from the Saracens flanker on Saturday afternoon, which went a long way to them clawing their way to victory. Never one to shy away from the battle up front anyways, he yet again rolled up his sleeves and went looking for work in the tight, which in turn shifted the tide as Saracens powered to a second-half comeback. A good weekend for Welsh number sixes, too, with Freddie Thomas and Aaron Wainwright in the conversation here.

5 Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers): Would have left Borthwick beaming from ear to ear with a seriously strong effort against Bristol. His work in the defensive lineout helped destabilise the Bears just as they were starting to build through the phases, and his work on his own throw was just as effective in driving Leicester forward. That was then backed up with some big work in the tight, enjoying a decent ding-dong with England and ex-Tigers teammate Ellis Genge for his troubles, and was deservedly named Man of the Match. The only real question he has over him for this month’s Tests is: where does he start? James Dun impressed for Harlequins.

4 Nick Isiekwe (Saracens): Had a lot on his plate as a senior leader but stepped up when it mattered most to help Saracens’ fightback. His efforts in the tight, on both sides of the ball, were so influential in dragging the Londoners out of the hole Newcastle had them in at half-time, and he showed himself as a real leader within their squad. Alex Coles wasn’t far away.

3 Afo Fasogbon (Gloucester): The hulking tighthead seems to be in the scrummaging form of his life right now, and he was again incredibly powerful against Northampton Saints on Saturday. Unlucky to not get more reward for it on the penalty front, but still got some decent change, and backed that up with some nice work around the park. Joe Heyes yet again impressed for Leicester, in keeping with his good form, while Harlequins replacement Ollie Streeter’s 26 tackles at a 100% success rate warrants a mention here too.

2 Jamie Blamire (Leicester Tigers): A decent weekend for hookers, with Curtis Langdon and Sam Riley catching the eye, but Jamie Blamire is our man after he took one big step towards an England recall. He seemed to ice everything he was involved in on Friday night, be it the set-piece, defence or in the carry, and consistently had a net-positive effect on the game as a result. His try was a just reward for his efforts.

1 Archie van der Flier (Leicester Tigers): Potentially the form loosehead in the PREM right now? Looked the absolute business on Friday night, despite dislocating his finger early into the game, going very well in an entertaining scrum battle and going even better in defence to show his all-round game once more. Ellis Genge was close.