Sharks scrumhalf Grant Williams wielded his magic on a weekend that yielded two wins out of four for the South African sides in the United Rugby Championship, writes Quintin van Jaarsveld.
The Bulls and Sharks will head into the November break on a winning note while the Stormers and Lions will have food for thought after falling short in their respective Round Six fixtures.
The Bulls snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in wet conditions in Treviso, where two late tries and a 79th-minute conversion by David Kriel saw the men from Pretoria pip Benetton 17-15 on Friday night.
In the first of Saturday’s games, the Stormers suffered a 28-17 defeat to the defending champion Glasgow Warriors in Stellenbosch, before the Sharks cantered to a 41-24 win over Munster in Durban. Finally, the Lions put up a valiant fight but went down 24-6 to log leaders Leinster in rainy Dublin.
Williams is one of nine Sharks in our Team of the Week, which also includes three Stormers, two Lions and one Bulls player.
15: Aphelele Fassi (Sharks)
Gave the Sharks a dream start with a try inside the opening minute, good link-up with Makazole Mapimpi and chip to create Grant Williams’ try, made try-saving tackles on Craig Casey and Calvin Nash and won a turnover. His confidence is at an all-time high.
14: Eduan Keyter (Sharks)
Not a noteworthy round for local right wingers. Even though the ball didn’t come his way a lot, Keyter was the best of the bunch because of his work rate, which included seizing two turnovers, and effectiveness in the air.
13: Henco van Wyk (Lions)
Tough to bring down, dangerous chip, saved the day with a spectacular defensive effort to stop James Lowe from dotting down and won a textbook breakdown penalty in the 64th minute.
12: David Kriel (Bulls)
The Bulls’ hero coolly slotted a difficult conversion in the final minute of the match to win it for his team and was a central figure throughout. A one-man backline for the most part, making a team-high five successful carries, won a great breakdown penalty in the 66th minute and crucially converted both late tries.
11: Makazole Mapimpi (Sharks)
A Mustang on the open road, racking up an unrivalled 123 metres. Good speed to beat his man and the cover defender to score, sparked Williams’ try and nice break from deep inside his half.
10: Jordan Hendrikse (Sharks)
Full of running. So dangerous on attack, both as a ball carrier and distributor, and scored 16 points in a flawless goal-kicking display.
9: Grant Williams (Sharks) – Player of the Week
A firecracker who caused Munster plenty of problems in a Man of the Match performance. Blistering break to put Fassi in for a try in the opening minute, good support play to score one of his own and good break in the 33rd minute. Made a try-saving tackle on Sean O’Brien to boot.
8: Keke Morabe (Stormers)
Continued his rich vein of form. A barnstorming ball carrier and physical defender, he dominated just about every collision he was involved in.
7: Vincent Tshituka (Sharks)
An all-action outing, one of his best in a Sharks jersey. Athletic and omnipresent, making line breaks, vital cover tackles as part of his match-high 19 hits and charged down Billy Burns’ kick to score a hard-earned try.
6: JC Pretorius (Lions)
Popped up everywhere in a heavy-duty defensive display. His jackal earned the Lions their first three points, while he won a second turnover in his 22 in the 14th minute. Slowed down Leinster’s ball and made an impressive 15 tackles.
5: Ruben van Heerden (Stormers)
No one with a No. 5 on his back worked harder than the Stormers ironman, who sustained an outstanding output for the full 80 minutes (making a team-high 11 tackles) on top of running the lineout expertly.
4: Eben Etzebeth (Sharks)
Top-class in all areas. Strong carries with offloads thrown in, held up Tadhg Beirne over the tryline, won back contestable kicks, piled on the pressure in the lineouts and immense on defence.
3: Frans Malherbe (Stormers)
The big, burly gift that keeps on giving. Showed his crushing class by winning two scrum penalties and did solid work in the trenches.
2: Bongi Mbonambi (Sharks)
Plenty of muscle and mongrel. Explosive in the tight loose and strong in the set pieces, it was a solid afternoon for the veteran.
1: Ox Nche (Sharks)
Good long pass in the lead-up to Mapimpi’s try and a dominant force at scrum time, where he won two penalties and spearheaded a massive shove from which Andre Esterhuizen scored. Huge hit on Fineen Wycherley was one of his 12 tackles.
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