Gallagher Premiership team of the season: Flying Cadan Murley a shoo-in on the wing

With the Premiership’s regular season now over, all eyes turn to this weekend’s semi-finals.

While the business end of the English domestic rugby season is upon us, the league began back in September – with 13 teams – and eight months later plenty of players have proven themselves over the course of a gruelling campaign.

Charlie Morgan and Charles Richardson pick their team from this Premiership season – feel free to pick yours in the comments.

15. Alex Goode (Saracens)

Joe Carpenter has been another revelation of Sale’s season, George Furbank is consistently excellent for Northampton and Mike Brown has a case given his impact at Leicester. But the class of Goode, who turned 35 on Sunday, just refuses to dim. Over a season in which the creativity and ambition of Saracens’ has proven a defining factor, he remains a driving force. As Mark McCall has said previously, Goode is a master of subtle moments. Satisfyingly, he has also spent time in the spotlight this term, with a last-kick penalty to win at Sandy Park and a virtuoso performance to beat Sale on the day he became the most decorated Saracen.

14. Cadan Murley (Harlequins)

Selection of the wings was pretty easy, though Tom Roebuck has pushed on in eye-catching style for Sale. Not only did Murley plunder 15 tries to hold off Mateo Carreras as the league’s leading marksman. He proved himself to be far more than a finisher, buzzing around the field making telling carries and bringing bite in defence. The latter was apparent during an intriguing duel with Max Malins in Tottenham. All told, Murley can have done little more to state his readiness for an England cap.

13. Ollie Lawrence (Bath)

Even before Worcester Warriors unravelled, Lawrence looked to be in fine form and determined to make up for lost time after a frustrating sequence of injuries. He was excellent in all three games prior to his boyhood club going into administration and has since shone for Bath. His low-slung, explosive carrying is a big asset, especially given Lawrence is a decent distributor too. But some clever breakdown defence has been another huge plus. Matt Scott has become one of Leicester’s most important players and Elliot Daly was on fire before the injury that stopped him from featuring in the Six Nations.

12. Fraser Dingwall (Northampton)

Benhard van Rensburg goes into the honourable mentions pile with a number of his London Irish colleagues. Tough and resourceful, he merits extra credit for shifting to outside centre upon the departure of Curtis Rona. Dingwall demonstrated similar versatility for Saints, often tying together tidy team moves with unfussy passes or intelligent angles of running. He has bagged seven tries thus far, more than any centre, and will be a key figure in the bid to oust Saracens in the first semi-final.

11. Mateo Carreras (Newcastle)

Rounding his game to become a proactive defender and an assured kicker as well as a devastating runner, Ollie Hassell-Collins earned himself a Test debut. Tommy Freeman’s progress continued as well. Carreras could not be beaten, though. Despite the struggles of bottom-placed Newcastle, his highlight reel from this season will be mesmerising. He finished up with 13 tries and most – with the notable exception of a ‘gimme’ bestowed on him by Adam Radwan at the Twickenham Stoop – were fantastic, scuttling scores. Now for us to excitedly follow Carreras in the Rugby Championship and World Cup.

10. Owen Farrell (Saracens)

As Leicester Tigers did last season, Saracens have retained top spot thanks to some extremely tight victories. In many of those – Harlequins away, Gloucester twice, Bath at home – Farrell has asserted himself in pivotal moments. For more comfortable wins, the Saracens and England skipper has controlled matters. Rob du Preez and Paddy Jackson deserve plenty of plaudits, while Handré Pollard spurred Leicester Tigers into the play-offs and Santiago Carreras produced flashes of brilliance.

9. Gus Warr (Sale)

Ben Spencer and Ivan van Zyl, Saracens past and present, impressed all season. Alex Mitchell knocked down the England door and Ben White was an influential leader for London Irish. Warr sneaks ahead of everyone, establishing himself as first-choice at Sale by exuding tenacity throughout a fine campaign. The 23-year-old is a scampering, snarling terrier of a scrum-half with sharp skills.

1. Val Rapava Ruskin (Gloucester)

The loosehead was immensely unlucky to not come into the England reckoning this season after a string of eye-catching performances for Gloucester. Injury meant that Rapava Ruskin's season was cut short – and Gloucester missed him. Arguably the best jackaling prop in the league, Rapava Ruskin carries like a truck and has proven himself an improved scrummager. Bevan Rodd, Ellis Genge, Tom West and Beno Obano all pushed him close.

2. Julián Montoya (Leicester)

The global hooker stocks run deep but the Argentina captain – who has taken over the Leicester captaincy – might just be the pick of the bunch. After some set-piece shakes, Montoya now leads the league's best line-out, jackals like a back-rower and is like a bull in contact.

3. Will Stuart (Bath)

Only seven matches played, but four of those were consecutive bonus-point wins to close out the season and snatch Bath a spot in the Champions Cup next season. Stuart played an integral role; some of his ball-carrying at the Friday night win at Kingsholm was frightening. A World Cup certainty.

4. George Martin (Leicester)

Another who will surely feature in the World Cup reckoning, Martin has been a revelation since permanently switching to lock earlier this season. The one-cap England international has always been a defensive titan but Martin has significantly improved his ball-carrying. Steve Borthwick is a fan.

5. Jean-Luc du Preez (Sale)

Du Preez has a case to be at No 8 in this team in his own right but a late-season switch to second row avoids a selection headache with Jasper Wiese. Sale's pack has been granite this season and Du Preez has been at the heart of that, alongside Jonny Hill, in the AJ Bell's engine room. That duo's match-up against fledgling duo Martin and Cameron Henderson this Sunday in the Premiership semi-finals is mouth-watering. For a brute, Du Preez is deceptively agile and is a superb exponent of the dominant tackle.

6. Theo McFarland (Saracens)

McFarland might have suffered a season-ending injury last autumn, but his impact on the Premiership in such a short period of time cannot be overstated. Dynamic, athletic, McFarland displayed all the qualities of a new prototype of blindside. A master at both the line-out and in the loose. Sale's trio – the Curry brothers and Jono Ross – can all feel hard done by to not feature.

7. Tom Pearson (London Irish)

Pearson will surely be in the conversation for England's World Cup squad, having established himself as a regular on the back row for the Exiles this season. Excellent at the breakdown as all good sevens should be, it is Pearson's power with the ball that sets him apart from the competition. He is also mightily skilful.

8. Jasper Wiese (Leicester)

Wiese's reputation preceded him this season and there was always the fear at Welford Road that the barnstorming No8 might have been found out. Not so. Wiese's explosive carrying and punchy defence have resulted in a nomination for the league's player of the season award; the only forward.

Who is in your Premiership team of the season? Join the conversation in the comments section below