The TOTW has players from nine teams following another action-packed round that delivered another draw and four away wins...two rounds to go and a dozen teams in quarter-finals mix. 

The Lions were big winners in round 16 jumping back to second spot in the South African Conference after beating the Stormers. Young flanker Vincent Tshituka makes his first TOTW while No.8 Kwagga Smith was in fine form winning three turnovers, making three clean breaks and crossing for a brace of tries. Team-mate and hooker Malcolm Marx is back in the team - he made more carries (11) gained more metres (62), made more clean breaks (3), and made more tackles (14/14) than any other hooker.

Bulls lock RG Snyman continues to impress making the TOTW for the third week in a row and is joined in the second row by young Reds lock Angus Blyth who made 13/13 tackle attempts, won one turnover, and won eight lineouts - the joint second-most of any player.

There is a lot of talk about who should play fullback for the Wallabies this year but Waratah fullback Kurtley Beale produced another fine performance - he beat a round-high 11 defenders, and made a joint round-high four clean breaks, as well as gaining 123m from 15 carries. One of Super Rugby's standout backs this year, Anton Lienert-Brown of the Chiefs, is in the lineup after making the second-most carries of any player (19), making three clean breaks, two offloads, and beating four defenders.

The halfbacks are an interesting partnership with All Black and Hurricanes fly-half Beauden Barrett joined by up and coming Jaguares scrum-half Felipe Ezcurra. Barrett is Player of the Week and steered the 'Canes around in their win over the Sharks and scored 15 points, while Ezcurra made 12 tackles (four more than any other scrum half), scored a try, and provided a try assist.

 

15

Kurtley Beale

Waratahs

Beat a round-high 11 defenders, and made a joint round-high four clean breaks, as well as gaining 123m from 15 carries.

14

Santiago Carreras

Jaguares

Made three clean breaks, gained 121m and scored two tries from 12 carries against the Reds.

13

Anton Lienert-Brown

Chiefs

Made the second-most carries of any player (19), making three clean breaks, two offloads, and beating four defenders from them.

12

Ngani Laumape

Hurricanes

Only Kurtley Beale (11) beat more defenders than Laumape (10), who also made eight tackles, gained 70m from five carries, and scored a try.

11

Jock Campbell

Reds

Made three clean breaks, two offloads, gained 78m and scored a try from his eight carries against the Jaguares.

10

Beauden Barrett

Hurricanes

Made a round-high 18 kicks in play, provided two try assists, made a joint round-high four offloads, and finished with a personal points haul of 15 from three conversions and three penalty goals.

9

Felipe Ezcurra

Jaguares

Made 12 tackles (four more than any other scrum half), scored a try, and provided a try assist.

1

Lizo Gqoboka

Bulls

Gained a round-high 30m among prop forwards, made a clean break, and made 8/8 tackles.

2

Malcolm Marx

Lions

Made more carries (11) gained more metres (62), made more clean breaks (3), and made more tackles (14/14) than any other hooker.

3

Allan Alaalatoa

Brumbies

Made 13 tackles, the most of any prop forward, without missing a single attempt,  well as making five carries.

4

Angus Blyth

Reds

Made 13/13 tackle attempts, won one turnover, and won eight lineouts - the joint second-most of any player.

5

RG Snyman

Bulls

Won eight lineouts, the joint second-most of any player, including a lineout steal, as well as making 11/12 tackles and providing a try assist.

6

Jaco Coetzee

Stormers

One of only four players to make more than 10 tackles (15) and more than 10 carries (13), as well as beating four defenders.

7

Vincent Tshituka

Lions

Gained 59m, made one clean break and four offloads from his 10 carries, as well as making 7/7 tackles and winning two lineouts.

8

Kwagga Smith

Lions

Won three turnovers, made three clean breaks and crossed for a brace of tries.


Opta Index: How does it work

The Opta Index allows genuine opportunities to compare and contrast both player and team strengths and weaknesses across Super Rugby, providing real insights pre-game as follows: 

After every match Opta completes a video analysis of every touch of the ball. Each action in the match is awarded a points value depending on the relative importance of the action. So for example, a try scores more points than a tackle, but a player loses points for a missed tackle.

The points are then weighted against the score at the time when the action took place (higher points if the score is closer), the time in the match (higher points at the start of the match) and the position on the pitch where it took place (higher points for actions closer to the goal line).

The player is then given a score for the match by adding up all his actions while he was on the field. The total match score is then weighted to take account of the strength of the opposition so that performances across many matches can be judged fairly.