SA United Rugby Championship Team of the Week – Round 10

We went coast to coast when it came time to select our South African United Rugby Championship Team of the Week, writes Quintin van Jaarsveld.

The Sharks and Stormers dominated the local derbies on Friday, the Durbanites lashing the Lions 37-10 at Kings Park and the Capetonians claiming a dazzling 37-27 win over the Bulls at DHL Stadium.

The coastal franchises each have seven stars in our side, with a solitary Bulls player making the grade.

15: Kurt – Lee Arendse (Bulls)

Punched above his weight in the brutal North-South derby, most memorably making a magnificent try-saving tackle on Hacjivah Dayimani. A livewire on attack, bobbing and weaving to a joint-match-high 52 running metres.

14: Leolin Zas (Stormers)

Set off on some blistering runs and showed his extraordinary finishing ability to slice his way past five Bulls. Good hustle to retain possession from a restart.

13: Lukhanyo AM (Sharks)

Kept the Lions guessing throughout with his creativity and bag of tricks, from darting runs and audacious offloads to probing grubbers.

12: Rohan Janse van Rensburg (Sharks)

An irresistible force. Used his size and strength to smash over the gain line, the highlight of his strong performance seeing him break a tackle to put Makazole Mapimpi away for his first try. Beat the most defenders (6) and made the most offloads (4) in the Durban derby.

11: Makazole Mapimpi (Sharks) – Player Of The Week

An electrifying Man of the Match performance. Bagged a brace, his second the product of some impressive soccer skills, a match-high three clean breaks, and did incredibly well to defuse a grubber and turn it into a dangerous counter-attack.

10: Manie Libbok (Stormers)

Used his head-to-head battle with Johan Goosen to show the unrivalled x-factor he brings to the table on top of his fantastic fundamentals (accurate goal-kicking for 15 points and pinpoint contestable restarts). Beauden Barrett-like speed to pierce the defence before setting up Zas with a 30-metre pass.   

9: Grant Williams (Sharks)

A scintillating spitfire. Operated at 200km/h in everything he did to create unstoppable momentum and carve openings in the Lions’ defence. Got to show he’s the fastest scrumhalf in the country when he blasted off his left foot and raced in for his try.

8: Hacjivah Dayimani (Stormers)

Uncharacteristically selfish early on to squander a try but more than made up for it with a dazzling display. Launched the stunning counter-attack that resulted in Suleiman Hartzenberg’s try of the weekend, chipped and chased for a near-try, and made a joint-match-high six successful carries. Stole a Bulls’ lineout ball to boot.

7: Willie Engelbrecht (Stormers)

His best performance for the Stormers yet. Backed for his physicality and he delivered in spades, making some smashing hits to repel the Bulls and dislodge the ball. Made some strong carries as well and stayed disciplined.

6: Siya Kolisi (Sharks)

Feasted on the Lions with a cracking cameo off the bench. Put the afterburners on right away, goose-stepped and raced downfield to the delight of the crowd, and later crossed for the bonus-point try.

5: Ben – Jason Dixon (Stormers)

The unsung hero of the Stormers. Worked his socks off to blow everyone out of the water on the defensive front. The tireless second-rower’s 18 tackles were the most by a local player by a country mile while he also had a hand in Hartzenberg’s try.

4: Gerbrandt Grobler (Sharks)

A late replacement for Vincent Tshituka, who was ruled out with a shoulder injury, and grabbed the opportunity with both hands. Led the Sharks in successful carries (6) and tackles (10) and poached one on the Lions’ throw.

3: Thomas du Toit (Sharks)

Played at loosehead but cracked the nod as none of the tightheads put their hands up. The Sharks swing prop lived up to his “Tank” moniker with ball in hand, relentlessly charging at the Lions, worked hard on defence, and was solid at scrum time.

2: Joseph Dweba (Stormers)

Good in the set pieces and a force in general play. Pure power to bulldoze his way over for a try.

1: Steven Kitshoff (Stormers)

Colossal in every department, including the breakdown, where he extracted two penalties. Led by example with some dominant tackles and powerful carries to secure the Man of the Match award.

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.