Rugby
SA URC Team of the Week
Saturday’s much-anticipated United Rugby Championship North-South derby delivered in spades as the Bulls pipped the Stormers 33-32 at a sold-out Cape Town stadium, writes Quintin van Jaarsveld.
The rescheduled opening round encounter was well worth the wait as the old rivals went hammer and tongs in a Test match-like atmosphere.
Both teams left points on the field off the tee, but Jurie Matthee and Clayton Blommetjies’ wayward boots ultimately cost John Dobson’s side.
Our Team of the Week is full of Bulls but a number of Stormers stars were able to earn selection.
15: Warrick Gelant (Stormers)
A slippery customer who evaded a few defenders, produced a try assist – albeit a fortunate one – for Salmaan Moerat and scored a beautiful try himself. Made a match-high nine successful carries and 127 metres.
14: Canan Moodie (Bulls)
Making his 50th appearance for the Bulls at just 22 years of age, Moodie didn’t have a lot of attacking opportunities but worked his socks off and caused the Capetonians a lot of problems in the air.
13: David Kriel (Bulls)
Missed two conversions and a penalty but the 13 points he scored with the boot proved decisive in the end. Also did the basics well.
12: Harold Vorster (Bulls)
Came alive in the second half. Showed his veteran smarts to pick up from the base and score straight after halftime and ran hard and straight all afternoon. Steamrolled Matthee on one occasion.
11: Sergeal Petersen (Bulls)
An elusive runner who had an important hand in the opening try and showed good awareness to grab a Willie le Roux grubber in the lead-up to the Bulls’ second try. Put good pressure on the Stormers’ catchers, too.
10: Willie le Roux (Bulls)
A satisfactory display as the Bulls’ driver in the No. 10 jersey. His vision led to the opening try, great touch-finder in the Stormers’ 22, his line kicks were good bar one and he produced a clutch breakdown penalty in his 22 in the 77th minute.
9 Embrose Papier (Bulls)
Ultra-lively and nuggety. Kept asking questions around the fringes, fed his team fast and accurate ball, popped up everywhere on defence, making a match-high 18 tackles, and was clinical with the boot.
8: Cameron Hanekom (Bulls) – Player of the Week
“A beacon of light” is how his captain Marcell Coetzee described him in his post-match interview. Sure, he dropped two restarts but he was colossal overall and the clear Man of the Match.
Made an immediate impact with a great break from the kick-off while another strong carry set up Vorster’s try. Beat an unrivalled nine defenders and led the Bulls in successful carries (5), metres (78) and turnovers (2).
7: Ben-Jason Dixon (Stormers)
Seized a textbook breakdown penalty, was the go-to man for the hosts in the lineout and did well to score what looked like the match-winning try.
6: Marcell Coetzee (Bulls)
Led by example with immense physicality. Excellent break from a stolen lineout just before halftime and was huge on defence, where his work included shutting down Joseph Dweba.
5: Ruben van Heerden (Stormers)
He was not only a hard grafter but showcased his underappreciated ball skills as well, putting Frans Malherbe over with the best offload of the game.
4: Cobus Wiese (Bulls)
Seen as a future Springbok, the rising star upstaged Stormers captain Moerat through superior work rate and physicality. His engine and energy put him in position to score the opening try and he made a number of hard hits before he limped off in the 47th minute.
3: Wilco Louw (Bulls)
Malherbe scored just his second URC try and had a try assist. However, Louw was in a class of his own at scrum time, where he won four penalties, one of which earned the visitors three points to go into halftime with an 18-17 lead.
2: Akker van der Merwe (Bulls)
A super-sub of note. Replacing Johan Grobbelaar in the 52nd minute, “The Angry Warthog” came up with two vital turnovers, the second of which led to Ruan Vermaak’s try.
1: Gerhard Steenekamp (Bulls)
Drove home the Bulls’ dominance in the scrums after he came on for a banged-up Jan-Hendrik Wessels in the 27th minute. Even though his yellow card proved very costly, he was still much better than his opposition.