8 April 2019, by: Quintin van Jaarsveld

SUPER RUGBY SA TEAM OF THE WEEK – ROUND 8

The Sharks provided the only highlight of the weekend’s Super Rugby action from a South African perspective and make up the bulk of our Team of the Week as a result.

The Durban side’s thumping of the Lions see them boast eight players in our Round Eight team. While the Lions were blown away as a team, there were some good individual performances and three such members of the Johannesburg outfit cracked the nod.

Similarly, three players of the Bulls team who fell apart in the final 10 minutes against the Jaguares and a sole member of the Stormers side who went down to the Reds form part of our team.

A remarkable performance by the forgotten Springbok, who was at his brilliant best in his first start of the season. He was the attacking spark of the Sharks and well and truly ripped the Lions to shreds. He made two clean breaks, beat nine defenders and ran for 104 metres in 11 carries, with his play-making masterclass also including three terrific try assists. On top of that, he was solid on defence and under the high ball, and slotted a few kicks at goal to cap off a complete performance.

The real space was on the other side of the field, however, he was still a threat, breaking the line and beating four defenders. The veteran’s positional play was also good.

World-class! A truly complete centre, Am won three turnovers, the second of which sparked Makazole Mapimpi’s first try, exploited space with ball-in-hand and offloaded in the tackle, shut down Aphiwe Dyantyi and scored a well-deserved try.

Stats aren’t always a true reflection of a player’s impact on any given day. Damian de Allende and Andre Esterhuizen may have better numbers, but Odendaal was immense for the Bulls in a losing cause, gaining good ground and popping a key offload for Jade Stighling to go over.

Another fantastic outing by the Sharks flyer. He popped up everywhere, made no fewer than five clean breaks and showcased his lethal finishing skills to bag a brace.

The benefit of playing behind a dominant pack sees Du Preez preferred over the other candidates, who were all subpar, even though he didn’t exactly set the field alight himself.

Rather than simply being a link, which is often the case with scrumhalves in runaway wins, he kept the Lions guessing with a few sniping runs and chips from the base.

A roaming, workmanlike effort in which he secured two breakdown penalties and made 12 tackles.

Did a great job filling the big shoes of Pieter-Steph du Toit. The best Stormers player on the day, he scored a try, made 12 hits and poached two balls on the ground.

A yellow card marred what was an otherwise good outing from Siya Kolisi, with the 14 points the Reds scored while he was in the bin ending up costing the Stormers the game. Stringer largely played a defensive role for the Sharks and racked up a team-high 12 tackles.

Grafted exceptionally hard in a pack that was dominated on the day, making an unrivalled 20 tackles on top of managing the lineout.

Nine carries, seven tackles and two lineout takes reflect another solid outing by the Bulls utility forward.

Another strong showing by the Bulls tighthead, highlighted by two forceful scrum penalties and good defensive work.

His opposite number Kerron van Vuuren can be more than pleased with his performance in his first starting opportunity, but Marx never stopped giving his absolute all in a hopeless team cause and won two turnovers on the deck.

The Beast was brilliant in his record 157th Super Rugby appearance, but the Bulls loosehead was equally impressive, especially as a ball carrier, and had the longer, sustained effort.

? Who was your SA Player of the Week?

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