Stephen Jones starts at fly-half in our Team of the Round © Getty Images

The first round of the Heineken Cup produced the usual level of thrills and spills, with a couple of performances to savour, but who has made the cut for our first Team of the Round?

15. Rob Kearney (Leinster)
The Leinster fullback rounded off a brilliant try in his side’s 38-22 win over Racing Metro and commanded the air at the RDS – showing flashes of his aggressive best in disrupting Racing at the restart and keeping the pace up with a series of raids from deep.

14. Topsy Ojo (London Irish)
The former England winger scored the decisive try against Munster at the Madejski – racing in from halfway off a predatory interception. He’s scoring for fun at the moment.

13. Casey Laulala (Cardiff Blues)
The Blues have bags of quality in the backs but you wouldn’t have known it as they spluttered past Edinburgh on Saturday. Laulala was a rare shining light, creating space whenever he was granted possession by the conservative Dan Parks and scoring what was to be their winning try.

12. Seilala Mapusua (London Irish)
The Samoan centre picked up the Man of the Match award in Reading following a towering defensive display. We all know what he can do with ball in hand but it was his industrious work in shutting down Munster that garnered plaudits on this occasion.

11. Shane Williams (Ospreys)
The Ospreys’ pocket dynamo went close to securing the spoils against Toulon at the Stade Mayol, but his moment of individual skill for their only try of the game proved to be mere consolation as the home side bit back late on.

10. Stephen Jones (Scarlets)
The Wales fly-half finished his side’s thrilling win over Perpignan with 28 points including their bonus-point try. Always a cool head, he offered plenty of playmaking nous as the West Wales team carved their French rivals apart. Honourable mentions go to London Irish’s Ryan Lamb, Toulon’s Jonny Wilkinson and Wasps' Dave Walder.

9. Dimitri Yachvili (Biarritz)
He may not be the most exciting scrum-half in the game but without Yachvili Biarritz would not have beaten Bath. He kicked his goals and showed plenty of patience and nerve - something that eluded his opponents.

1.Nathan Catt (Bath)
Bath may have shown a distinct lack of maturity in failing to find a way past Biarritz, but the young loose-head prop was among the few players to make a positive impact. He was a handful in the loose and more than held his own in the scrum against Campbell Johnstone.

2. William Servat (Toulouse)
The France hooker was at his burrowing best against London Wasps as he consistently made hard yards around the fringes in the driving rain at the Stade Municipal. While Wasps’ lineout disintegrated in the conditions Servat’s throwing was reliable enough.

3. Martin Castrogiovanni (Leicester)
Leicester’s Italian tight-head prop produced a Man-of-the-Match performance, which included a try, as the Tigers snatched victory in Treviso. Castrogiovanni was a force around the field and he crashed over the line early in the second half.

4. Bob Casey (London Irish)
Alongside fellow lock Nick Kennedy, Casey laid a platform for London Irish’s victory over Munster. The Dublin-born second-row was solid on Irish’s own throw and stole a couple of crucial lineouts against his countrymen.

5. Joe Tekori (Castres)
The Samoan second-row ignited hopes of a Castres victory against Northampton at Franklin’s Gardens on Friday night with a wonderful pick up at the side of a ruck for a try - a great moment of skill from the big man.

6. Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe (Toulon)
Toulon successfully shut down the Ospreys' attack and their attempts to put pace on the ball, thanks in no small measure to the influence of the French side’s ubiquitous back-row. The 28-year-old was everywhere; tackling around the fringes, turning ball over and consistently taking the ball forward.

7. George Smith (Toulon)
Like Fernandez Lobbe, the former Australia captain was integral to stifling the Ospreys’ attacking intention. But he also had a significant impact with ball in hand; showing some soft touches throughout and playing a central role in Paul Sackey’s late try.

8. David Lyons (Scarlets)
The 30-year-old Australian gave the Scarlets the all-important momentum with a number of barracking runs and some adept offloading. He consistently made big yards, which allowed the backs to reap the rewards of front-foot possession against Perpignan.