By Ben Jaycock
Tyro Harlequins prop Fin Baxter is the headline selection in Premiership Rugby’s 2023/24 team of the season which has a strong Northampton feel to it with a third deriving from the table toppers.
Behind Northampton’s five inclusions, seventh-place Exeter Chiefs have the next most with three, while second-place Bath have two, as do sixth-spot Harlequins.
Fourth-place Saracens, fifth-spot Bristol Bears and eighth-place Leicester Tigers each have a solitary representative.
That means Sale Sharks, who finished third, surprisingly fail to be included, while the league’s bottom two Gloucester and Newcastle Falcons also miss out.
Baxter, 22, is joined in the front row by Northampton Saints hooker Curtis Langdon and Bath’s try-scoring machine Thomas Du Toit at tighthead.
In the second row, Northampton’s Alex Coles is joined by Exeter’s Rusi Tuima with the duo both looking to secure a regular spot in Steve Borthwick‘s England squad on the back of a stellar campaign in the Premiership.
The back row was very hotly contested with Player of the Season nominee Courtney Lawes joined by England’s Player of the Six Nations Ben Earl of Saracens at flanker and at No.8 Leicester Tigers powerhouse Jasper Wiese is chosen after another impressive season.
Bath captain Ben Spencer is selected at scrum-half and is joined by a fourth Saint in Fin Smith at 10.
The duo both collected Gallagher Player of the Month awards this season and impressively marshalled their sides to home play-off ties.
In the centres, Gallagher Player of the Season Henry Slade of Exeter Chiefs is joined by Bristol Bears’ Benhard Janse van Rensburg.
Having missed out on England selection for last year’s Rugby World Cup, Slade hit the ground running which was all the more impressive given the departures at Sandy Park over the summer.
Centre partner Janse van Rensburg was pivotal to the Bears late season push, narrowly falling short of the play-offs, with the South African the standout player at Ashton Gate.
Finally, in the back three, Breakthrough Player of the Season Exeter Chiefs’ Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Premiership Rugby Top Try scorer Ollie Sleightholme of Northampton Saints – the fifth player from the league leaders – are selected on the wings.
Harlequins full back Tyrone Green is the final player chosen for the Premiership Rugby Team of the Season. As well as scoring the Premiership Rugby Try of the Season against Newcastle, the South African was among the most dangerous players all season.
