Currie Cup Team of the Week – Round 2

Highveld stars dominate our Currie Cup Team of the Week, but our player of the round comes out of Cape Town, writes Quintin van Jaarsveld.

Round Two got off to a thrilling start at Ellis Park, where the Lions roared into a 28-point lead before having to hold off a spirited fightback from Western Province to secure a 38-32 win on Wednesday.

The Bulls and Griquas also bounced back from opening round defeats. The men from Pretoria claimed a 32-27 victory over a Pumas side who refused to lay down at Loftus Versfeld on Friday night, while the Peacock Blues recorded a commanding 31-10 win over the Cheetahs in Kimberley on Saturday.

Five players from the defending champion Bulls and four Lions make up the bulk of our team. A pair of Province and Griquas players also cracked the nod, with lone stars from the Pumas and Cheetahs completing our side.

15: Devon Williams (Pumas)

Fantastic all-round effort. Looked like a bat out of hell when he ran onto a wonderful pass by flyhalf Eddie Fouché straight through the Bulls defence before throwing a final pass to Tapiwa Mafura to score a stunner. Kicked superbly with his left boot, leaving the best for last when he, under pressure and with no angle to work with inside his 22, found touch just outside of the hosts’ 22.

14: Madosh Tambwe (Bulls)

Continued his rich vein of form and try-scoring ways, this time beating two Pumas with pure pace in a 55-metre sprint over the line. Like a cat on a hot tin roof, he stepped his way through and around no less than six would-be tacklers. The aforementioned Mafura lit up Loftus as well, most notably with a tackle-busting run and terrific try later on.

13: Jay-Cee Nel (Griquas)

Put himself on the map with a sensational solo try, beating three defenders with a rampaging run from a lineout (time-stamped below). Rock-solid on defence, making all six of his tackles. Harold Vorster scored a cracker in his own right in his Bulls debut, while Rikus Pretorius and Erich Cronje created tries.

12: Cornal Hendricks (Bulls)

The irrepressible veteran was at in again. Stormed over the advantage line time and time again and made it look easy. Notched up a try assist when he sent Tambwe away and produced a piece of individual brilliance, showing great wherewithal and speed to score an opportunistic try with a blindside break from a ruck (time-stamped below).

11: Eduan Keyter (Griquas)

A big fish in a small pond. Produced a second stellar showing in a row, this time being rewarded with the Man of the Match award after racking up a round-high 102 metres. Always heavily involved, he played a key role in Masixole Banda’s try and grabbed one himself to secure the bonus point. Lions speedster Sibahle Maxwane was lethal as well, breaking Sergeal Petersen’s ankles with a wicked step and bagging a brace.

10: Chris Smith (Bulls)

Controlled the game with good decision-making and excellent execution. Dominated the tactical kicking battle, slotted five out of six off the tee and created openings with flash darts and delayed passes. The experienced George Whitehead also deserves a mention for a good overall outing.

9: Ivan van Zyl (Bulls)

Great variation by the Bulls scrumhalf, who dictated terms with Smith while also pushing the pace with some quick taps and snipes around the rucks. Dillon Smit was a livewire as well and threw a great ball for EW Viljoen to set Maxwane’s second try in motion.

8: Marcell Coetzee (Bulls)

In “a game of inches” as he called it in his post-match interview, the Bulls captain won every collision he was involved in, with Phumzile Maqondwana, in particular, coming off second best when he tried to tackle the talisman. Complimented brute force with good skill as he played a prominent role in two of his team’s tries in a Man of the Match performance. Opposite number Willie Engelbrecht also excelled.

7: Evan Roos (Western Province) – Player of the Week

That he won the Man of the Match award in a losing effort says it all. More than made up for his yellow card, hustling and bustling like an uncaged animal and inspiring the near comeback win. Made a match-high 12 carries for a team-high 47 metres and was immense on defence as well with 13 tackles. Edged the inform Vincent Tshituka in a great head-to-head battle.

6: Sibusiso Sangweni (Lions)

Another quality performance by the rising star. Scored a second try in as many weeks as he sold Petersen a twisting dummy from a driving maul (time-stamped below) and was mightily impressive on defence, owning the gain line and making 13 tackles.

5: David Meihuizen (Western Province)

Rynier Bernardo had a big game in Kimberley, twice poaching Griquas’ lineout ball and making a thunderous tackle on Stefan Ungerer. However, Meihuizen’s output was unmatched. On top of a towering display at lineout time, the tireless Western Province lock made a team-high 15 tackles and a handful of carries.

4: Ruben Schoeman (Lions)

Brutal and relentless. His physicality and work rate were key to the Lions’ dominance up front. Great lungs for a snarling enforcer, he led the Lions in carries (12), made nine tackles and was rewarded with a try. Like Roos, his colossal contribution far outweighed the yellow card he conceded.

3: Aranos Coetzee (Cheetahs)

The men from Bloemfontein were blown away in the end but they dominated the scrums, due in large part to their veteran Namibian international Coetzee, who was in a destructive mood. Ruan Dreyer did his thing at scrum time as well, while 139kg man-mountain Ig Prinsloo made a massive impact for the Pumas off the bench.

2: PJ Botha (Lions)

A spirited showing by the Lions hooker. Showed great power and passion to drive over for his two tries, pumping the legs and working hard to score after peeling off the back of a lineout drive and then from a pick and go. Energetic, hard-nosed and good in the set pieces.

1: Nathan McBeth (Lions)

Had a good go at Neethling Fouché in the scrums but it’s his output in open play that was particularly impressive. The big man covered good ground on defence, making eight tackles, cleaned out with vigour and looked like he was at an all-you-can-eat buffet when he scooped up a turnover on his 5m line.

Quintin van Jaarsveld

Quintin Van Jaarsveld is a former MDDA-Sanlam SA Local Sports Journalist of the Year and a former three-time Vodacom KwaZulu-Natal Sports Journalist of the Year. Formerly the sports editor and Outstanding Journalist of the Year award winner at The Fever Media Group, deputy editor at eHowzit, editor at SARugby.com and senior staff writer at Rugby365.com, he boasts over 15 years’ experience and is currently a freelance sports writer.