The Super Rugby Team of the Week has representatives from nine of the teams after a weekend that saw three away wins in the six-match round. The Jaguares are the big movers having won three from three on the road including their first ever win against New Zealand opposition.

Hurricanes centre Vince Aso returned to his best to be Player of the Week after a high quality performance. This week against the Sunwolves he scored two tries, made two try assists, made 5 clean breaks and ran for over 100 metres.

 

 

15

Warrick Gelant

Bulls

Made 14 carries - the equal most by any back - two clean breaks, two offloads, and beat five defenders.

14

Manasa Mataele

Crusaders

Beat a round-high eight defenders, scored a brace of tries, made 10 carries, and gained 73m thanks to four clean breaks.

13

Jesse Kriel

Bulls

Made 12 carries for 44m gained, two clean breaks, three kicks in play, as well as scoring a try.

12

Vince Aso

Hurricanes

Scored two tries, provided two try assists, made five clean breaks from 12 carries, and gained 103m.

11

Filipo Daugunu

Reds

Won an equal round-high three turnovers, made nine carries for 89m gained, two offloads, and kicked 3/3 with the boot (2C, 1P).

10

Handre Pollard

Bulls

Gained 83m from 13 carries, beat four defenders, assisted one try and scored one for himself, scoring 11 points in total.

9

Dewalt Duvenage

Stormers

Made a round-high 10 kicks in general play, two clean breaks, and made one try assist.

8

Jordan Taufua

Crusaders

Made 13/13 tackles, 12 carries for 40m gained, and beat three defenders.

7

Ardie Savea

Hurricanes

Missed just two of 21 tackle attempts, gained 35m from eight carries, made two clean breaks and provided one try assist.

6

Elliot Dixon

Highlanders

Won six lineouts, made 10/11 tackles, and won a turnover for his side.

5

Pieter-Steph du Toit

Stormers

Made 16/17 tackles, eight carries, won four lineouts, and provided one try assist.

4

Grant Hattingh

Sunwolves

Made a round-high 17 carries, gaining 40m from them, and won nine lineouts including one steal.

3

Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro

Jaguares

Made 11/12 tackles, won one turnover, and finished with 10 carries to his name.

2

Malcolm Marx

Lions

Made 15 carries - the second most of any player - for 32m gained, crossed for a brace of tries, made 8/8 tackles, and made 10 successful lineout throws.

1

Jean-Pierre Smith

Reds

Made 10 tackles without missing, beat two defenders, made one clean break from his seven carries, and crossed for a try.

 

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.