SA Investec Champions Cup Team of the Week – Round 4

The Stormers and Sharks headed into the final round of pool action having to fight for survival in France and were knocked out by Racing 92 and Bordeaux-Begles respectively.

The Capetonians were gutsy in their 31-22 defeat at Paris La Defense Arena, while the Sharks were hammered 66-12 at Stade Chaban-Delmas. As a result, the Stormers won’t see any further action in European competitions this season, while the Sharks will return to the Challenge Cup, which they won last season.

Out of contention for the Champions Cup Round of 16, a rampant Bulls side smashed Stade Francais 48-7 at Loftus Versfeld to qualify for the Challenge Cup playoffs. No less than 12 Bulls players feature in our team, with a pair of Stormers and a solitary Sharks star completing the line-up.

15: Devon Williams (Bulls)

A player who’s matured really well. Brilliant break with his first touch of the ball, good distribution and support play to score the Bulls’ second try and made the players around him look good with deft touches.

Papier ➡️ Williams ➡️ Gans ➡️ Petersen ➡️ Williams

It's starting to click for the Vodacom Bulls 🤌

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— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) January 18, 2025

14: Sebastian de Klerk (Bulls)

Excellent retention of an early contestable kick and did good things with the boot including a grubber leading up to Hanekom’s try and a touch-finder that further demoralised Stade Francais.

13: Jurenzo Julius (Sharks)

Key to the Sharks’ hot start, feeding Siya Masuku for his try with a good offload, great run in the build-up to Hakeem Kunene’s try and a strong counter-attack.

Beautiful hands by the Hollywoodbets Sharks 🤩🏉

Hakeem Kunene crashes over in the corner 🙌

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— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) January 19, 2025

12: Harold Vorster (Bulls)

In addition to the hard, straight running over the gainline he’s known for, the veteran was strong defensively, including making a vital tackle on Thibaut Motassi, and it was his turnover that enabled Hanekom to score.

11: Sergeal Petersen (Bulls)

A good afternoon on both sides of the ball. Made two line breaks, great try assist for Williams with a skillful grubber and won a textbook breakdown penalty shortly after the hour mark.

10: Boeta Chamberlain (Bulls)

Coming on for an injured Johan Goosen after 28 minutes, Chamberlain delivered a commanding performance that saw him score a try, kick two conversions and slot a penalty goal for a 12-point haul.

9: Herschel Jantjies (Stormers)

A super-sub who changed the complexion of the game by injecting pace and sting into the Stormers’ attack. Scored a try and set up another to get the Capetonians back in the game.

8: Cameron Hanekom (Bulls) – Player of the Week

A flourishing talent who displayed his full skillset in his Man of the Match performance. Outstanding turnover at a maul on his 5m line, ripped a steal in the 36th minute and a jackal in the 56th minute. Brilliant offload to put Ruan Vermaak over, scored a great try and was a demon on defence, making a match-high 14 tackles.

Cameron Hanekom just doesn't have an off switch 😤🏉

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— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) January 18, 2025

7: Elrigh Louw (Bulls)

A real nightmare, he was in Stade Francais’ faces all afternoon. Dominated the gainline battle and charged down two kicks. Smashing through for a try from a 5m tap highlighted his supreme power.

6: Marcell Coetzee (Bulls)

Class is permanent, as Coetzee showed in a 50th cap for the Bulls that he can be proud of. Broke tackles with his strong carries, bulldozed Baptiste Pesenti, wrestled his way to a maul turnover and made 11 tackles.

5: Ruan Nortje (Bulls)

Immense after a two-month injury layoff. Ran the lineout like clockwork, stole one on the visitors’ throw and won a turnover on the deck. His value to the lineout was emphasised by the way it went off the boil after he was replaced.

4: Ruan Vermaak (Bulls)

Good all-around. Very physical, put Stade Francais’ lineout under a lot of pressure, poached one against the throw, did well to stay in touch and dot down and added a beautiful flicking offload.

3: Neethling Fouche (Stormers)

As dominant as Wilco Louw was at scrum time, Fouche matched him by winning three penalties in the set piece and outworked him in open play, making a joint-team-high 14 tackles.

2: Johan Grobbelaar (Bulls)

Did a lot of good work in general play and at the breakdown. Above all, though, his laser-accurate lineout throwing separated him from his competition.

1: Gerhard Steenekamp (Bulls)

Played his part in the scrum domination, made a couple of valuable carries and was a busy, roaming defender.