20 May 2019, by: Quintin van Jaarsveld

SUPER RUGBY SA TEAM OF THE WEEK – ROUND 14

South African sides exceeded expectations in Round 14 of Super Rugby, pulling out all the stops in pursuit of play-off places.

The Bulls broke their three-year drought in Australasia, the Lions fought off the Highlanders and the Stormers held the Crusaders to a draw. With the Jaguares also defying the odds in Wellington, it was an unbeaten weekend for sides in the South African Conference, which remains wide open.

There were several tough calls to make when it came to selecting our Team of the Week. At fullback, both Warrick Gelant and Andries Coetzee impressed, Handre Pollard and Elton Jantjies were prolific pivots, Kwagga Smith and Duane Vermeulen were great at No.8, Eben Etzebeth and Stephan Lewies were fantastic at No.4 and Malcolm Marx and Schalk Brits (who made a whopping 18 tackles) were huge at hooker.

His positioning was better than Coetzee’s and his tactical kicking played an important role in the Bulls’ success. Was dangerous on attack as well, creating a scoring opportunity with one of three clean breaks in the 51st minute.

Equally impressive on attack and defence. Made three clean breaks, beat six defenders, racked up 67 metres and scored a late try, while making a team-high nine tackles and winning a turnover.

His hands let him down at times, but he was still a handful for the Highlanders. Beat four defenders, made two clean breaks and 43 metres in 12 carries.

Continued where he left off last week. A great break shortly after half-time was the highlight of a hard-grafting display in which he made valuable metres with both force and footwork.

A wizard in Oz. Showed an array of skills he honed on the sevens circuit to set-up Burger Odendaal for one of the tries of the tournament, dodged three defenders and scored a try of his own.

Rosko Specman delivers as @BlueBullsRugby get a vital win in Melbourne. #SuperRugby #REBvBUL

Full highlights: https://t.co/aEWZibgYuq pic.twitter.com/9CotwQ7nnL

— RUGBYcomau (@rugbycomau) May 17, 2019

Was at the peak of his play-making prowess and played a pivotal role in the Bulls’ rare win Down Under, scoring 17 points. Excellent vision and execution of the pinpoint crosskick to Cornal Hendricks to catch and score and a slicing sidestep to score under the uprights.

Within the Lions’ up-tempo, tire tactic, he was the key to establishing and maintaining quick ball and executed the link role expertly.

Irrepressible, beating five defenders and bagging a brace. Brilliant play to create a scoring path for Coetzee and great presence of mind to take a quick tap and barge his way over for his second try.

Did it all – carried with velocity and regularity (9), defended like a demon (11), won turnovers on the ground (2) at critical times and ruled the lineouts (7 takes and one steal). One of those who gave it his absolute all, only to be booed on his home ground. Got love from the commentators, who named him Man of the Match, and gets some from us as well as our Player of the Week.

Scored a brilliant early try to inspire his troops, kept the ball alive more often than not and hit rucks hard. There are arguments to be made on both sides of THAT penalty call at the end, but there’s no disputing he delivered a driven and influential performance.

Watch: Brilliant line break, great step & a sensational finish by Siya Kolisi ? Try of the weekend? #SuperRugby pic.twitter.com/5FtApAk0uv — BET.co.za (@betcoza) May 19, 2019

The Aussie announcers were spot on remarking he looked like a Wildling from Game of Thrones as he played like a man possessed. Made 13 tackles and was once again huge on attack, making three line breaks, fending off three defenders and using his long arms to wing accurate offloads.

Strong everywhere but most significantly, spearheaded the Stormers’ physical charge. Made eight carries, seven hits and won seven lineouts.

Mobile around the park (four carries and six tackles) but more importantly, earned two penalties in a strong scrummaging performance.

Led by example with a second successive Man of the Match performance. Bled for the cause, made a South African-high 14 carries and was monstrous on defence, where he again displayed his breakdown brilliance.

Both Dylan Smith and Steven Kitshoff had their moments, mostly at scrum time, but were disappointing defensively. Gqoboka was good in all facets, especially on D, where he made eight tackles.

BET: Super Rugby 2019