SA United Rugby Championship Team of the Week – Round 2

Stormers stars dominate our Team of the Week after the Cape side flew the South African flag in the second round of the United Rugby Championship, writes Quintin van Jaarsveld.

Saturday saw John Dobson’s men turn on the style to smash the Scarlets 52-7 in Stellenbosch, the Lions succumb 17-16 to Edinburgh in the Scottish capital and the Sharks lose 34-13 to Leinster in Dublin.

Sunday night’s battle in Belfast concluded the round where the Bulls put up a good fight but went down 26-19 to Ulster. There are nine Stormers in our team, four Lions and a lone standout each from the Sharks and the Bulls.

15: Warrick Gelant (Stormers

Activated all his playmaking powers. Full of tricks, including a no-look chip. His vision and pass created Clayton Blommetjies’ try while he also produced a fantastic 50:22 off his left foot and made a late try-saving tackle.

14: Courtnall Skosan (Stormers)

Came on for the injured Ruhan Nel in the 20th minute but played on the right wing. Enjoyed a great debut for his new club that included a try, a try assist for Blommetjies and a great run in the lead-up to the first try after halftime.

13: Henco van Wyk (Lions)

The man known as Weapon X was electric in Edinburgh, beating an unrivalled six defenders. Such a promising young talent, he showcased his explosiveness, speed, footwork and hunger and produced a textbook turnover to boot.

12: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (Stormers) – Player of the Week

All style last weekend, pure power this week to secure his second successive Man of the Match award. Added to his highlight reel by steamrolling Ioan Lloyd, shaking off Ben Williams and putting Ben Loader in for a try. Made a match-high 10 successful carries, put the boot into the Scarlets in the second half and scored a try for a personal tally of 13 points.

11: Lionel Zas (Stormers)

Strong with ball in hand as he showed when he sat down Shaun Evans, a continuity machine with three offloads, put in some ferocious hits and was brilliant under the high ball.

10: Jordan Hendrikse (Lions)

An assured performance in which he kicked 11 points. Took the ball to the line powerfully and fended off Mark Bennett, his distribution was slick, he made a telling tackle on big Viliame Mata and defused a dangerous kick.

9: Paul de Wet (Stormers)

A livewire who scored a try in each half, made two great cover tackles and did the fundamentals well.

8: Francke Horn (Lions)

The all-action eighthman was omnipresent, showed tremendous tackle fight to score the Lions’ only try and made a try-saving intervention on Mark Bennett. Epitomises an unheralded hero, a workhorse who gives his all week in and week out.

7: Elrigh Louw (Bulls)

Ultra-physical and covered plenty of ground. Made two memorable cover tackles on Jacob Stockdale, the second a smashing hit, poached a turnover and powered his way over in heavy traffic to bring the Bulls back in it with 11 minutes to go.

6: Marcel Theunissen (Stormers)

Scored a first-quarter double, had a great run in the build-up to his team’s third try, won a counter-rucking turnover and remained influential throughout.

5: Ruben van Heerden (Stormers)

Ruled the lineout, made plenty of post-contact metres, impressive line speed and intensity on defence and won the turnover that resulted in De Wet’s second try.

4: Ruben Schoeman (Lions)

A battering ram who did the donkey work. Much of the momentum the Lions mustered, especially towards the end of the first half, was thanks to Schoeman’s strong and relentless carries. Poached a lineout and delivered a jackal, too.

3: Hanro Jacobs (Sharks)

Took the fight to Leinster in the scrums, where he had them on the back foot, and at the breakdown, where he extracted two turnovers.

2: PJ Botha (Lions)

Very influential. Made an early break, produced a great jackal from a restart that earned the Lions their first points, a second in his 22 to save the day, was clinical in the set pieces and made some chopping tackles including on Ross McCann.

1: Ali Vermaak (Stormers)

An Ox Nche-like destructive force at scrum time, winning two penalties in the set piece and spearheading a heel against the head. Good work rate and won a turnover on the deck.

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.