United Rugby Championship Team of the Week: ‘Sensational’ Ireland snub and ‘dominant’ Springboks lead the way
Ulster's Robert Baloucoune, Munster's Alex Nankivell and Bulls' Johan Grobbelaar.
Following a thrilling final weekend of action before the international break, we pick our United Rugby Championship (URC) team of the week from round five.
The Stormers and Munster head into the break as the top two teams on the log and remain the only unbeaten sides in the competition, with Glasgow and Cardiff rounding off the top four.
This weekend also saw the Sharks notch up their first win of the campaign, beating the Scarlets, who remain winless along with the Dragons as three Welsh teams prop up the table.
Without further ado, here is our URC team of the week.
URC Team of the Week – Round Five
15 Quan Horn (Lions): A Springboks recall might be on the cards for the Lions full-back who shone yet again as his side ended Ulster’s unbeaten start to the season. He pitched in with a try assist and threatened each time he touched the ball. Rather harsh call for the likes of Willie Le Roux, Shane Daly and Wes Goosen, who had excellent games for the Bulls, Munster and Edinburgh, respectively.
14 Robert Baloucoune (Ulster Rugby): Ended on the losing end of the result at Ellis Park but certainly laid down a marker running in three tries against the Lions, beat six defenders and made three line breaks. If he can stay fit and firing, surely he will return to the international fold, considering his sensational form since injury. He edges Cardiff’s Josh Adams and Leinster’s Josh Kenny to a place in the team, the latter impressing in his first start for the province.
13 Henco van Wyk (Lions): Scored a try, was sharp defensively and did just enough to see off the excellent shift from Stafford McDowall against the Bulls to claim a place in our team of the week. Hat tip to the likes of Tommaso Menoncello and Phil Cokanasiga.
12 Alex Nankivell (Munster Rugby): After a sterling shift against Leinster on the wing, Nankivell returned to his preferred position, where he put in a man of the match shift in a narrow win over Connacht. The Sharks were far from convincing against the pointless Scarlets, but Andre Esterhuizen was a standout yet again, while Charlie Tector was in good nick for Leinster.
11 Ethan Hooker (Sharks): The better performances came from the right wingers this weekend, with Hooker being the pick of the men on the left. The rising Springbok star made the most of the opportunities that came his way and caused all kinds of issues for the Scarlets. Sebastian de Klerk was also excellent for the Bulls despite being starved of possession, while Byron Ralston was also superb.
10 Jurie Matthee (Stormers): In the absence of Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Matthee shone as the Stormers continued their unbeaten start to the season with a victory over Benetton in Treviso. He scored 21 of his side’s 31 points, which included a try, two conversions and four penalties. Elsewhere, Adam Hastings put in a commanding performance for Glasgow while Sam Costelow was a standout for the Scarlets again and Harry Byrne impressed for Leinster.
9 Johan Mulder (Cardiff): Central to the Welsh outfit’s narrow win over Edinburgh as he was involved in all three of Cardiff’s tries, scoring once and assisting twice while his side won possession back on three occasions with his kicks. Reuben Morgan-Williams was a standout for the Ospreys, while Embrose Papier had good moments against Glasgow.
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Glasgow maul masterclass v Bulls power
8 Jack Dempsey (Glasgow Warriors): A barnstorming return from the Scotland international who produced a man of the match performance in a hard-fought victory over the Bulls. No signs of rust at all. His opposing number Jeandre Rudolph also impressed before a hefty collision ended his outing. Dragons’ Aaron Wainwright just misses out for his efforts in the drawn Welsh derby.
7 Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors): No shortage of options with classy performances from so many in the position. Taine Basham was in a destructive mood for Cardiff and was duly named man of the match, Jack O’Donoghue was pivotal for Munster as they continued their unbeaten start to the season, scoring a crucial try, while Scott Penny was sublime for Leinster too. However, we have gone for Fagerson, who grabbed a pair of turnovers and led the charge in a bruising encounter with the Bulls. Finally, a special mention to Ulster hooker Tom Stewart, who put in a tidy shift on the side of the scrum for the province.
6 Alex Soroka (Leinster Rugby): A brace for the all-action back-rower inspired his side’s second win of the season as the Irish province hammered Zebre. He was effective in every single facet of the game. Did enough to beat the hugely impressive Marcell Coetzee, who racked up a round-high of 31 tackles against Glasgow, Lions star Ruan Venter and Edinburgh’s Dylan Richardson.
5 Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors): Glasgow really needed to grind out a win over the Bulls, and Cummings was central to their efforts on both sides of the ball, but particularly with their maul mastery. Alex Samuel and Alex Craig deserve their flowers too, along with Max Williamson, who is unfortunate not to crack the nod in our team of the week. In the same match, Ruan Nortje was immense, particularly on defence, while Marvin Orie was central to the Sharks finally winning, grabbing two lineout steals while running his team’s set-piece well.
4 Jean Kleyn (Munster): The Irish derby was far from thrilling, but that’s precisely the kind of games where Kleyn’s value is clearly evident. It was simply the kind of performance where he got the job done with carries that crossed the gain-line, a tidy 14 tackle count and did his bit at lineout time. Elsewhere, Marshall Sykes impressed as did Cobus Wiese, both locks doing so in a losing effort.
3 Mornay Smith (Bulls): There were a fair few tightheads who dominated at scrum time this weekend, but none so as much as Smith, who made light work of Scotland international Jamie Bhatti and his replacement Nathan McBeth, the latter receiving a yellow card for his set-piece struggles. Additionally, he made 20 tackles against the Warriors, a truly impressive performance.
2 Johan Grobbelaar (Bulls): It was rather difficult to split the hookers this weekend, but Grobbelaar gets the edge ever so slightly because of his efforts across the board. As mentioned above, the Bulls scrum dominated in Glasgow while all of his lineout darts found his jumper. He played a mammoth 74 minutes in a physically demanding game where he made 26 tackles and pestered the breakdown. Dewi Lake is probably the unluckiest hooker to miss out, closely followed by Marnus van der Merwe, Ewan Ashman and Andre-Hugo Venter.
1 Ox Nche (Sharks): A coin flip between two Springboks looseheads with Nche pipping the brilliant Gerhard Steenekamp. The Sharks man put in a momentum-swinging shift in his man of the match outing against the Scarlets, where he turned the screws at scrum time and made his mark around the park. As for Steenekamp, he played a crucial part in the demolition job done on the Glasgow scrum and weighed in with a mammoth defensive shift too – Rassie Erasmus and Daan Human will be particularly pleased with the latter’s form, having just come back from injury.
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