Dan du Plessisis the centre of attention in our South African United Rugby Championship Team of the Week, writes Quintin van Jaarsveld.
It was a successful return to competition for the South African sides bar the Sharks, who were outclassed and shutout by Cardiff in the Durban rain on Sunday.
The action kicked off in Cape Town, where a young Stormers side scored an impressive 36-19 win over the Scarlets on Friday night.
The Bulls on Saturday blew away the Ospreys 43-26 in Pretoria while Sunday saw the Lions down the Dragons 33-25 in Johannesburg before the Sharks crashed to a horror 35-0 defeat as Cardiff became the first Welsh team to triumph on South African soil in the URC.
Du Plessis is one of six Stormers in our team, six Bulls also earned selection, along with three Lions. That means no Sharks managed to crack the nod.
15: Wandisile Simelane (Bulls)
The project is taking shape. By far the regular centre’s best performance yet at fullback. Looked more confident in the role and was full of running. Ate up metres with his speed and dancing feet and was denied a try by being held up over the line but set up tries for David Kriel and WJ Steenkamp.
14: David Kriel (Bulls)
Brilliant on both sides of the ball. Scored a brace, showing a clean pair of heels to draw first blood and then good awareness to pounce on a loose ball and combine with Lionel Mapoe for his second. Added two try-saving interventions and chased hard.
13: Lionel Mapoe (Bulls)
A vintage display of playmaking prowess by the veteran. Sublime offload to send Kriel away for his second try and his straightening was the key to Ruan Nortje’s try. Also made a good clean break and shipped a perfect pass to Simelane for his near-try.
12: Dan du Plessis (Stormers) – Player Of The Week
Took centre stage with a dynamic dual performance in which he ran both hard and smart. Used his size and strength to get over the gain line, his intellect to slice through with top-class lines and his agility to step past a match-high six defenders and both set-up and score a try to take the Man of the Match honours.
11: Leolin Zas (Stormers)
Known for his attacking prowess, which he showed on the night, most memorably making it look effortless when he cut inside off turnover ball to score, but had an outstanding defensive outing as well. Made a magnificent try-saving tackle, had a 100% tackle success rate, and won two turnovers.
10: Jordan Hendrikse (Lions)
Commanding Man of the Match performance that saw him score in all four ways. Spun out of a tackle and disregarded another to dot down, slotted two conversions, three penalty goals – including a 56-metre bomb – and a slick drop goal for a 21-point haul. Made a try-saving tackle on Ross Moriarty as well.
9: Zak Burger (Bulls)
Beat out the competition with a brilliant cameo off the bench. Fast and snappy with his service, put his captain in for a try and crossed the whitewash himself.
8: Hacjivah Dayimani (Stormers)
Such an athletic baller. Had a field day, breaking tackles in heavy traffic, letting loose like a back in the wider channels, and scoring a ridiculous try. Made a match-high eight successful carries, a team-high 68 metres, and was excellent in the lineout as well, producing a vital steal on his 5m line.
7: Ruhan Straeuli (Lions)
Impressed in every department. Strong in contact, breaking a few tackles and scoring one of the Lions’ three tries with low body positioning to power in between two backs. Good offloading, covered oceans of space on defence, and was a pillar of strength at the back of the lineout.
6: Nizaam Carr (Bulls)
A dream start to his second stint at the Bulls after a nightmare spell at the Wasps. Wonderful link between forwards and backs, flawlessly executing a looping lineout move that resulted in the first try and putting Mapoe into a gap with a quality ball. Beat two defenders to score a great try and made an important tackle on Max Nagy to come away with the Man of the Match award.
5: Ruan Nortje (Bulls)
The added responsibility of captaining the team took nothing away from his individual performance. As industrious and influential as ever, poached a lineout in the 16th minute, competed at the breakdown and under high balls, and put pressure on Rhys Webb while his hard work earned him a top try to cap off a fine first captain’s innings.
4: Ernst van Rhyn (Stormers)
His best performance to date. The stand-in Stormers skipper led by example, making strong carries, including a key charge in the lead-up to the opening try, and powered over for a try of his own. Even more impressive on defence where his unrivalled 15 tackles included a vital hit on Dan Jones.
3: Neethling Fouche (Stormers)
An impressive all-around showing. Scrummed well and made big plays in general play, including inspiring Du Plessis’ try with a powerful run and doubling up to float a 15-metre pass to his midfielders to do the rest.
2: Joseph Dweba (Stormers)
This was Dweba at his best. Flawless with his lineout throwing, a wrecking ball on attack that consistently won 3-5 metres after contact, and got stuck in as a busy, bruising defender.
1: Sti Sithole (Lions)
Absolutely feasted on the Dragons at scrum time. Emasculated Lloyd Fairbrother like Frans Malherbe did Mako Vunipola at Twickenham, winning three penalties in the process.
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