The Bulls’ hat-trick hero Cheswill Jooste starred in a sombre opening round of the Investec Champions Cup, writes Quintin van Jaarsveld.

The rugby community was rocked by the news that Lions lock Hyron Andrews had shockingly passed away at the team’s hotel on Friday. A moment of silence was held in his honour before every game, and the Lions decided to soldier on and go ahead with their clash against La Rochelle.

The Bulls kicked off Saturday’s action from a South African perspective with a 56-20 win over Stade Francais at Loftus Versfeld, where after the Stormers secured a 49-12 win over the Bristol Bears at Cape Town Stadium despite being down to 14 men for 30 minutes after JJ Kotze saw red and Lionel Zas was yellow-carded.

The Lions’ first-ever Champions Cup game was a highly emotional affair. The Pride went down 31-14 at Stade Marcel-Deflandre, but did themselves and Andrews proud with an exceptionally gutsy performance.

The Stormers lead the way in our South African Investec Champions Cup Team of the Week with eight representatives. Jooste is one of four Bulls who made the cut, while three spirited Lions earned selection.

15: Damian Willemse (Stormers)

Even with him butchering a certain try, Willemse was world-class with his positional play, aerial mastery and otherwise good attacking contributions, including breaking Tomas Gwilliam’s ankles and assisting Jonathan Roche for his first try.

14: Seabelo Senatla (Stormers)

The veteran flyer was red hot, beating two defenders to sprint over for the Stormers’ opening try and followed up with an early Assist of the Season contender for Zas. He also made a try-saving spot tackle on Tobi Wilson and was named Man of the Match.

13: Henco van Wyk (Lions)

Van Wyk is always intense, but he was even more so given the circumstances the Lions played under. He drove through two men to score a fourth-minute try and give the Pride the perfect start and took it to the French giants all evening.

12: Jonathan Roche (Stormers)

The young gun fired against the Bears, and it was his great work rate that saw him score a try in each half.

11: Cheswill Jooste (Bulls) – Player of the Week

One of the brightest young stars in South African rugby, it took Jooste just 20 seconds to draw first blood for the Bulls. He Using his first-step explosion and prolific pace, he made an unrivalled 206 metres and six line breaks, completed a hat-trick with a screamer of a solo effort from a restart, and mopped up a dangerous kick-through en route to claiming the Man of the Match award.

10: Handre Pollard (Bulls)

The Springbok legend did it all; his kick-offs were pinpoint – like the first that led to the quick try – he took the ball to the line, used creative ways of attacking with the boot, made a vital tackle on Aisake Nawaqadrua, seamlessly shifted to inside centre for the final 27 minutes and slotted eight from eight off the tee for a 16-point haul.

9: Cobus Reinach (Stormers)

Reinach’s kicking game was on point, not only from the base, but also when he tracked back to make a crucial clearance; his distribution was good, and he should’ve had a brace of tries, with both of his dot downs chalked off thanks to Zas.

8: Cameron Hanekom (Bulls)

Evan Roos had an industrious return from injury, but he made a few too many mistakes for our liking. Hanekom was more clinical, scored a try, and had an assist denied by an Elrigh Louw infringement.

7: Jeandre Rudolph (Bulls)

With none of the blindside flanks doing anything of note, we decided to reward Bulls super-sub Rudolph, who scored an absolute ripper of a try and won a great maul turnover on his 5m line.

6: Paul de Villiers (Stormers)

The mental aspect of sport is just as, if not more important, than the physical. De Villiers showed his unshakable nature in the way he led the Stormers for the first time after regular captain Ruhan Nel was forced to withdraw at the 11th hour. He even threw in at a lineout on one occasion while Kotze was serving time for his red card.

5: JD Schickerling (Stormers)

With the Bulls’ lineout misfiring and Ruan Delport being largely dominated in contact, Schickerling won out. He ran the Stormers’ lineout well and was solid in the tight loose.

4: Etienne Oosthuizen (Lions)

Oosthuizen has built a reputation as being a hard man on the field, and he was that in France, but not before shedding a tear for his fallen fellow lock. Wearing his heart on his sleeve, he made one big hit after the other.  

3: Sazi Sandi (Stormers)

With the best and most feared tighthead in the world Wilco Louw given a rest, Sandi stepped up to the plate and hit it out of the park. He not only won two scrum penalties but also produced an assist in the form of an inside ball to Senatla.

2: Morne Brandon (Lions)

Another brave Lion, Brandon was combative, top-notch in the set pieces and scored the Lions’ second try to earn selection ahead of Stormers super-sub Andre-Hugo Venter.

1: Vernon Matongo (Stormers)

Making the most of his starting opportunity, Matongo matched his prop partner Sandi by winning two penalties at scrum time, while he also made a match-high nine tackles.