United Rugby Championship Team of the Week: Magnificent Munster feature prominently along with magical Manie Libbok
The United Rugby Championship (URC) finalists have been confirmed after the Stormers and Munster saw off Connacht and Leinster in their respective semi-finals.
Following two action-packed matches, Planet Rugby selects the URC team of the week, with Munster leading the way with six players, closely followed by the Stormers with five.
URC Team of the Week
15 Mike Haley (Munster): An outstanding game from the full-back who was at his best against Leinster. He pitched up at crucial moments to deny Leinster scoring opportunities and gained more metres (88) than any other player in the clash in Dublin. He pips Stormers’ ace Damian Willemse for a place in the side.
14 Angelo Davids (Stormers): Munster legend Keith Earls certainly came close, but Davids’ performance was just too good to ignore. He brilliantly caught an outstanding kick from Manie Libbok to score his side’s opening try. Soon afterwards, his hulking carry flattened Tiernan O’Halloran as he repaid Libbok, setting the fly-half up for a score that shifted momentum firmly in the hosts’ favour as they charged onto secure back-to-back home finals.
⛈️ Manie Libbok and the Stormers are cruising! #URC #STOvCON pic.twitter.com/Tbrc0L4gSd
— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) May 13, 2023
13 Robbie Henshaw (Leinster): The Ireland centre was on top of his game in the crunch clash as he thwarted many Munster attacks with superb defensive reads. In such a tight game, he also produced the moment of magic setting up Jason Jenkins for Leinster’s first try. Stormer Ruhan Nel was quietly brilliant before dotting down to seal the win, while Antoine Frisch provided Henshaw with a testing battle.
Munster’s match winner
12 Jack Crowley (Munster): A magnificent performance from the 23-year-old, who admittedly played most of the match at fly-half after starting in the centres. While his drop goal was the highlight of his game, it was far from the only good thing he did in the match. He controlled the game well and even carried strongly, flattening Harry Byrne before slotting the drop goal and kicking well out of hand. Rory Scannell came off the bench before half-time for Munster and was sublime and is unlucky to miss out in our team.
11 Shane Daly (Munster): Two standouts had largely similar games on Saturday, with Daly and Connacht’s Mack Hansen heavily involved on both sides of the ball. However, Daly was more crucial for his side as Munster claimed a spot in the final. He gained over 40 metres from his 12 carries, passed 18 times, and offloaded six times. Defensively, he was sound, missing just one of his nine attempted tackles.
Magical Manie Libbok
10 Manie Libbok (Stormers): The Springbok fly-half produced another world-class match-winning performance. He scored two tries, assisted another and kicked five of his seven attempts at goal for a 23-point haul, earning him the Player of the Match award.
9 Craig Casey (Munster): In a fast-paced and exciting match, Casey kept the tempo incredibly high for Munster and hardly put a foot wrong all game. His passes were accurate and swift while he weighed in with some vital defensive moments. Stormers duo Herschel Jantjies and Paul de Wet shone for the defending championship, with the latter grabbing a try.
8 Gavin Coombes (Munster): There was no shortage of options at number eight, with Stormers star Evan Roos having a solid game while Leinster’s Jack Conan was outstanding. Coombes edges the lot, topping the carry count (16) in the match, and made the second most tackles by a Munster player (17).
Big defensive performances
7 Josh van der Flier (Leinster): Again, another hotly contested position, but Van der Flier gets the nod after a sublime shift. He was called off the bench early in the game after the injury to Will Connors and didn’t miss a beat making an outrageous 25 tackles and winning four turnovers. His opposite number, John Hodnett, is especially unlucky to miss out, as is the box office Hacjivah Dayimani who assisted two tries against Connacht.
6 Willie Engelbrecht (Stormers): Called upon to fill Deon Fourie’s void, Engelbrecht stepped up to the challenge and was one of the Stormers’ best, making 24 tackles and pestered Connacht’s breakdown. Shamus Hurley-Langton was excellent for Connacht and was the closest to beating Engelbrecht to a place in our side.
5 Tadhg Beirne (Munster): Another all-action display from the outstanding forward after he moved from the back-row into the second-row. He was just as impactful at lock as he piled on the pressure at the breakdown and carried strongly into the Leinster defence. His ability to shift the ball on was paramount for Munster, doing so on 11 occasions while he came up with two crucial back-to-back turnovers when Leinster looked sure to score. Leinster’s Jason Jenkins also had a strong game, as did Joe McCarthy.
🔴 Tadhg Beirne putting Munster in front. Wow! #URC #LEIvMUN pic.twitter.com/P1JCRtsJKh
— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) May 13, 2023
4 Ben-Jason Dixon (Stormers): The 25-year-old filled in for the injured Marvin Orie, and like Engelbrecht, Dixon stepped up to the mark. Defensively, he was up to the task making 23 tackles and impressed with the ball in hand. Connacht’s Josh Murphy pressured the Stormers’ lineout, while Jean Kleyn was sharp before being forced off the pitch.
The front-row
3 Michael Alaalatoa (Leinster): The Samoan international held his own in a fierce scrum battle with Jeremy Loughman and put in a big 70-minute shift. With Munster controlling possession for long periods, Alaalatoa made 20 tackles. Meanwhile, Stormers tighthead Frans Malherbe had a solid game against Connacht.
2 Dave Heffernan (Connacht): An astute game from the reliable hooker who ticked all the important boxes in the clash with the Stormers. He found his jumper with his lineout darts, made his tackles and carried well. He just edges Leinster’s Ronan Kelleher to a place in our side.
1 Steven Kitshoff (Stormers): It could have been the captain’s final game in Cape Town as a Stormers player, and he played like it. He emptied the tank in a spectacular defensive display where he made 17 tackles, won two turnovers and linked up well on attack. The condition of the Cape Town pitch meant that he couldn’t flex his scrummaging prowess, but he managed to hold up his side of the scrum. Elsewhere, Munster’s Loughman was strong in the set-pieces against the more fancied Leinster pack and made a positive contribution around the pitch.
