Team of the Week: Super Rugby, Round Four

Adam Kyriacou

With the dust having settled on Round Four of Super Rugby, we’ve gone through the action to pick out the best players from the weekend.

The Crusaders lead the way with four representatives, with the Lions next on three, so without further ado let’s go through our team.

Team of the Week: Super Rugby, Round Four

15 Will Jordan (Crusaders): Chase Tiatia continues to look very much at home in the Hurricanes‘ number 15 jersey after another strong performance but there’s another Kiwi doing likewise in Christchurch. Jordan was one of the stars of the recent Mitre 10 Cup and he has carried that form into Super Rugby with another excellent showing, scoring two tries and making 98 metres as the Chiefs were thumped.

14 Sevu Reece (Crusaders): That was an impressive debut for the Crusaders from Reece. The recent press surrounding the player has been negative following a domestic violence incident in July but his performance on Saturday was all positive as he ran for 153 metres, scoring a try and setting up one against the Chiefs. A mention goes to form Rebels wing Jack Maddocks who is pushing for Test starts.

13 Wandisile Simelane (Lions): Aged just 20, Simelane has burst onto the scene in Super Rugby and was outstanding against the Jaguares. Jack Goodhue and Jesse Kriel stood up well for the Crusaders and Bulls respectively but Simelane was streets ahead with his performance in Johannesburg. 14 runs for 121 metres which included beating seven defenders saw him ease to our outside centre spot.

12 Ngani Laumape (Hurricanes): Another simple decision came at number 12 where Laumape produced a fired-up performance in the Hurricanes’ victory over the Highlanders. When he’s this driven and in some respects angry, the hulking inside centre is a nightmare to play against and he tormented the visitors to Wellington on Friday, scoring a brace of tries and making 79 metres from his 14 bulldozing carries.

11 Rieko Ioane (Blues): Talk about a one-man show. The Blues scored four tries against the Sunwolves and all of them went to Ioane. The natural born finisher showed his killer instinct in Albany and sees off Braydon Ennor and Rosko Specman as our 11.

10 Handre Pollard (Bulls): Just missed out last week but gets the nod this time around after another fine display for the Pretoria-based outfit. Once again the Rebels’ Quade Cooper was a standout, while the Lions’ Elton Jantjies also put in a fine display, but Pollard was in outstanding form for the Bulls. He scored 22 points in total, which included five penalties, two conversions and a drop-goal as they secured a comfortable victory over the Sharks. Pollard was also a threat with ball in hand, making 31 metres, and solid in defence, completing nine of his 10 tackle attempts.

9 Jamie Booth (Sunwolves): A lively performance from the talented scrum-half, who was a menace around the fringes for the Blues and made a staggering 95 metres. It was the most of any player in the match on Saturday and almost helped the Japanese side to a second successive victory on New Zealand soil. Unfortunate to be on the losing team but still manages to edge out the impressive Will Genia (Rebels) in this XV, who continued his fine opening to the campaign.

8 Kwagga Smith (Lions): The Johannesburg back-row trio are not necessarily the biggest but they are athletic and powerful in the loose, and caused the Jaguares a number of problems at Ellis Park. Smith, who tends to play flanker but was at number eight at the weekend, racked up the metres, making 46 in total, and also touched down once. Elsewhere, Akira Ioane was powerful carrying into traffic for the Blues while the Bulls’ Duane Vermeulen put in a fine display.

7 Marnus Schoeman (Lions): Another busy performance from the flanker, who carried hard, was a consistent threat at the breakdown and also touched down just after half-time. Schoeman has had to bide his time for regular playing time but has impressed since signing for the Lions in 2018 and was a thorn in the side of the Jaguares, meaning he edged out the excellent Michael Hooper, who starred for the Waratahs against the Reds.

6 Rob Valetini (Brumbies): The flanker or number eight is an impressive young player and showed many of his qualities in Melbourne at the weekend. Playing at blindside against the Rebels, the 20-year-old carried well in close quarters, making 22 metres from nine carries, and was also busy in defence. Valetini completed a game-high 16 tackles and was unfortunate to end on the losing side as he prevented Vincent Tshituka from the Lions having all three players in the back-row.

5 Josh Dickson (Highlanders): Gerard Cowley-Tuioti caught the eye for the Blues but Dickson gets the nod after shining in a losing cause against the Hurricanes in Wellington. The 24-year-old put in a big shift especially on attack, gaining 41 metres from 11 runs which included one clean break and a defender beaten. He also made six tackles for the cause.

4 Hanro Liebenberg (Bulls): Played in an unfamiliar position as he usually finds himself in the back-row, but that did not deter him as he was one of the Bulls’ standout performers in a memorable win over the Sharks. Liebenberg did well as a ball carrier and ran 35 metres from six carries with one clean break and three defenders beaten. Also did well on defence with 12 tackles.

3 Michael Alaalatoa (Crusaders): After initially being on the back-foot in the scrums – in his side’s win against the Chiefs – Alaalatoa improved as the match progressed and eventually put in a solid performance in the set-piece. He also did well with ball in hand, gaining 25 metres with one clean break, two defenders beaten, an offload and also crossed the whitewash for good measure. Comes in ahead of the Bulls’ Trevor Nyakane.

2 Codie Taylor (Crusaders): The Crusaders were in a rampant mood in a one-sided win against the Chiefs in Christchurch and Taylor was one of their best players after delivering an excellent all-round performance in his 40 minutes on the field. The All Blacks hooker was rewarded with a brace of tries and gained 51 metres from five carries with three clean breaks and two defenders beaten.

1 Karl Tu’inukuafe (Blues): The All Blacks front-row was at the forefront of his side’s forward effort in their triumph over the Sunwolves in Albany. Tu’inukuafe impressed in the execution of his core duties especially his scrummaging which was solid throughout. Also did his bit on defence with seven tackles and beats out the Waratahs’ Harry Johnson-Holmes.