SA United Rugby Championship Team of the Week – Round 5

Fresh and familiar faces showed out in the fifth round of the United Rugby Championship at the weekend, writes Quintin van Jaarsveld.

The Lions gave the unbeaten Warriors a scare on Friday night, but left Glasgow empty-handed following a 29-20 loss before the Stormers, Bulls and Sharks continued their winning ways on Saturday.

John Dobson’s side crushed Ulster 33-7 in Cape Town, the Bulls smashed the Scarlets 54-26 in Pretoria, and the Durbanites triumphed 15-3 over Munster in atrocious conditions in Limerick.

The Stormers lead the way with eight players in our South African Team of the Week, followed by the Bulls with four, the Sharks with two and the Lions with one.

15: Zekhethelo Siyaya (Sharks)

“He’s been stardust in this game,” one of the commentators said about Siyaya. Indeed, he was mightily impressive, sparking the opening try and almost scoring himself with his counter-attacking brilliance. A Man of the Match performance that might’ve caused Rassie Erasmus to second-guess himself after omitting the young gun from the Springbok squad.

14: Dylan Maart (Bulls)

It wasn’t perfect, but Maart was generally good. He rounded off the Try of the Weekend from a South African perspective, scored again at the death, and retained two kicks – an early bomb from Willie le Roux and a box kick from Paul de Wet in the 34th minute.

13: Ruhan Nel (Stormers)

With their defensive champion back, the Stormers conceded just a solitary try. He truly is the glue that keeps the Cape side’s backline together. He also seized a turnover on the deck and did well to beat Conor McKee in the air and score the bonus-point try.

12: Markus Muller (Stormers)

The teen sensation showed why he was included in the Springbok squad with a stellar showing. He was strong in contact when he needed to be and elusive on other occasions. His pirouetting break should’ve resulted in a try, but Damian Willemse knocked on, while his work in defence included a big hit that forced a turnover.

Six Uncapped Players Included In Bok Squad

11: Seabelo Senatla (Stormers)

Show this tremendous performance from Senatla to young wingers to teach them the importance and value of hard grafting when attacking opportunities don’t come your way. The veteran was outstanding in defence, winning a penalty on the deck and delivering an unbelievable try-saving tackle in the 75th minute.

10: Yaqeen Ahmed (Stormers)

Like Muller, Ahmed showed why he cracked the Bok squad with a stellar performance. The blue-chipper steered the Stormers well, created and scored a try, and finished with a personal tally of 13 points.

9: Morne van den Berg (Lions)

Van den Berg was the Lions’ MVP. He not only ran things from the base with his slick distribution and kicking game but also sparked their comeback with a classic sniping try and made a team-high 13 tackles.

8: Marcell Coetzee (Bulls)

For the second week in a row, Coetzee scored a brace of tries. This time he did so off the bench, coming on in the 43rd minute and flexing his muscles. His second five-pointer – which came with the scores tied at 26-all – was the blow that took the wind out of the Scarlets’ sails, killing off their comeback.

7: Jeandre Rudolph (Bulls) – Player of the Week

Currently the hottest player in the country, Rudolph continued his scorching run of form with another all-action Man of the Match effort. He kick-started things by scoring the opening try, assisted Maart for his and grabbed an intercept as he whipped up another 80-minute storm.

6: Paul de Villiers (Stormers)

A serial Man of the Match, the omnipresent opensider came away with the award yet again after a tireless performance that included an unmatched 15 tackles, and two turnovers. Most importantly, he delivered the game-changing moment with his charge-down try.

5: JD Schickerling (Stormers)

Schickerling was a pillar of strength, not just in the way he dominated the lineout but also in general play, including driving over to put the Stormers on the board and making a big hit on Rob Herring.

4: Nick Hatton (Sharks)

We went the Erasmus route with this out-of-the-box selection. Hatton started at No. 8, but he was the most prolific lineout poacher of the weekend, producing steals in minutes 33 and 38. The young Sharks skipper was heroic, providing the momentum for Ivan van Zyl’s try and making a match-high 17 tackles.

3: Khutha Mchunu (Bulls)

Mchunu was in an abrasive mood, taking names in open play and in the scrums to see off his strongest challenger in Neethling Fouche, who brought sheer scrum dominance to the Stormers off the bench.

2: Vernon Paulo (Stormers)

After an injury curse ripped through the Stormers’ hooker stocks the previous week, all eyes were on Paulo, and he made the most of the spotlight. His lineout throwing was outstanding, turning the set piece/maul into a weapon. Plus, he made the second-most tackles of the match with 14.  

1: Ntuthuko Mchunu (Stormers)

The freak of nature was at it again, doing special things to help sink Ulster. The highlight of his outing was the chicken wing assist for Schickerling, while Evan Roos’ runaway try stemmed from a monster shove.