The Super Rugby TOTW has representatives from seven of the teams with a strong South African presence after a round of five home wins and the last unbeaten team tasting defeat. 

Super Rugby is a third of the way through and this season is looking the most competitive for several years as results continue to be hard to predict. The Waratahs ended the Crusaders unbeaten run, the Blues beat a fellow Kiwi team for the first time in 20 matches and Chiefs get back to winning ways with big win away in Pretoria.

Chiefs fullback Damien Mackenzie played a big part in this with three try-assist and 21 points; Sunwolves number eight  Rahboni Warren-Vosayaco turned in another eye-catching performance with three clean breaks, three turnovers and two tries; Springbok captain and Stormers flanker Siya Kolisi made 18 tackles, five carries and scored a try.

Player of the Week: Lions and Springbok hooker Malcolm Marx had 100 percent throwing-in record (11/11) and tackle completion (10/10), won three turnovers and scored two tries.  

 

 

15

Damian McKenzie

Chiefs

Scored a round-high 21 points and provided more try assists (3) than any other player.

14

Wes Goosen

Hurricanes

Scored two tries, made three clean breaks, and gained 34m from just five carries.

13

Jesse Kriel

Bulls

Gained 68m from 13 carries, making two clean breaks, beating two defenders, and crossing for a try.

12

Alex Nankivell

Chiefs

Made 13 carries for 46m gained, beating three defenders and scoring a brace of tries, as well as making 7/8 tackles.

11

Rieko Ioane

Blues

Scored two tries to take his season tally to a competition joint high six, beat five defenders and gained 67m from seven carries.

10

Hayden Parker

Sunwolves

Kicked three goals from as many attempts, provided a try assist and made 67 metres from eight carries.

9

Nic Groom

Lions

Provided two try assists, scored another and made seven kicks in play.

1

Steven Kitshoff

Stormers

The only prop forward to make multiple offloads (2), also making one clean break, and making 9/10 tackles.

2

Malcolm Marx

Lions

Had a 100% success rate at the throw (11/11) and the tackle (10/10), won three turnovers, and scored a brace of tries.

3

Lizo Gqoboka

Bulls

Finished with a 100% tackle success rate from 12 attempts and beat one defender from four carries.

4

Chris Van Zyl

Stormers

Won six lineouts and made 18/20 tackles, the joint fourth most of any player.

5

Liam Mitchell

Hurricanes

Made 13/13 tackle attempts, won four lineouts, and made one offload.

6

Siya Kolisi

Stormers

Made 18 tackles, gained 20m from five carries, and scored a try.

7

Pieter-Steph du Toit

Stormers

Made 30 complete tackles, the joint most of any player in a game in the last nine Super Rugby seasons.

8

Rahboni Warren-Vosayaco

Sunwolves

Made three clean breaks, the most of any forward, won three turnovers, and scored 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.