Last weekend only one team managed to take an away victory and that victory went to a very composed Stormers team in Wellington. The Reds just pipped the Blues who is still looking strong in this year competition, the Sharks couldn’t recover from a 24 point deficit against the Chiefs although they did a good job trying, the Brumbies walked over the Force, the Bulls got some assistance from the ref against a dangerous looking Waratahs side, the Cheetahs got their 7th win of the season in their best season yet and the Crusaders struggled to a 4 point win against a spirited Rebels side.
The Cheetahs with their comprehensive win against the Kings has 5 players in our team this week, the Stormers with their impressive away victory has 4 players and the Bulls 3 and although the Sharks lost their comeback saw 3 top performers in the SA conference represented in our team.
15. Ulrich Beyers
He showed plenty of raw potential in his first Super Rugby Start.
14. Gio Aplon
Still one of the most dangerous backs in South Africa and instrumental in an important away win for his team.
13. Johann Sadie
One of his best games of the season. He’s growing in confidence and looking more comfortable with his new team.
12. Robert Ebersohn
One of our regular selections, he never disappoints and if selected for the Boks might prove to be just as effective.
11. Bryan Habana
He looked fresh and ready to play, if a little rusty, but still a mature performance that helped his teams cause.
10. Morne Steyn
Maybe he’s not feeling that much pressure to perform, whatever it is he’s controlling the game nicely behind a strong Bulls pack and feeding his young backline good ball.
9. Piet van Zyl
He’s had less chances this year with the return of Sarel Pretorius, but he’s shown that he’s still one of the form scrummies in South africa
8. Tera Mtembu
Injuries and poor form gave him his first start for the Sharks in Super Rugby and after that first 20 minutes Tera was involved everywhere on the field and might just have earned a few more starts this year.
7. Arno Botha
He gets his team over the advantage line with strong runs and a high workrate.
6. Derick Minnie
Scoring two tries for the Sharks in what can be seen as team tries, but his work around the contact area is what the team have been missing.
5. Andries Bekker
He has been one of our consistent selections and with Steenkamp have formed a strong combination in the absence of Eben Etzebeth.
4. De Kock Steenkamp
Standing in for the Springbok lock Steenkamp has yet to disappoint his team.
3. Lourens Adriaanse
The Cheetahs scrum has been solid with him all season.
2. Adriaan Strauss
He really leads from the front and gets involved in everything.
1. Coenie Oosthuizen
It’s interesting that the Cheetahs have decided to shift him back to the loosehead and whether this will be good for his Bok aspirations remains to be seen, but wherever he plays when he’s on the field it’s like having an extra loose forward.
International:
15. Isreal Folau, 14. Henry Speight, 13. Tim Nania-Williams 12. Christian Lealiifano, 11. Bryan Habana, 10. James O’Conner, 9. Piet van Zyl, 8. Tera Mtembu, 7. Arno Botha, 6. Steven Lautua, 5. Brodie Ratelick, 4. De Kock Steenkamp, 3. James Slipper, 2. Adriaan Struass, 1. Ben Robinson
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Pretty dynamic team that. Just not sure it had enough steel in the pack or brute force in the backline.