Scrum of the Earth /

Round two has been and gone and so has a few of the pre-tournament outsiders. What's becoming more and more evident is that the top table of European rugby is fully-booked with former champions and finalists hogging the limelight. Apart from Wasps and Brive that is...

15. Lionel Beauxis (Stade Francais) Counter attacking Frenchman was immense with boot and ball in hand.

14. Johne Murphy (Leicester Tigers) A first hat-trick since college made up for last week's errors

13. Brian O'Driscoll (Leinster) Might be knocking on but his imagination and strength is still as sharp as ever.

12. Luke Fitzgerald (Leinster) Ireland's new kid on the block showed up better England's best Riki Flutey.

11. Napolioni Nalaga (Clermont Auvergne) Pipped Leigh Halfpenny as the Fijian nemesis continually punched holes in the Montauban defence.

10. Ronan O'Gara (Munster) As specialists subjects go, Ronan's is the Heineken Cup and match-winning performances.

9. Danny Care (Harlequins) The jack in the box must be a shoo-in for the England number nine jersey.

8. Sergio Parisse (Stade Francais) Surely worth a fiver for the IRB Player of the Year?!

7. David Wallace (Munster) Simply everywhere proving that age holds no boundaries for the Irish warrior.

6. Alan Quinlan (Munster) If Duracell need an ambassador then the battery-powered tackle machine would be a good bet.

5. Paul O'Connell (Munster) If Brian O'Driscoll's favourite for the Lions armband then Paul's strawberry blonde!

4. Donnacha O'Callaghan (Munster) If you pick one, then you've got to choose the other partner in burglary crime.

3. Carlos Nieto (Glouceter) A try assist is a rare thing for any prop, especially when he's dynamic in the loose, prominent in the scrum and on the losing side.

2. Dimitri Szarzewski (Stade Francais) Will Skinner says he's the most beautiful rugby player he's ever seen.

1. Matt Stevens (Bath) Martin Johnson needs his star performer to keep up the good work.