The Super Rugby Team of the Week has representatives from nine of the teams after a weekend that saw the race for finals heat up. The Kiwi teams are again looking strong at this stage with many of the Australian and South African teams having a lot to do to chase a finals spot. The Jaguares continued their move up the South African Conference while the Crusaders now lead the way as  top seed heading into Week #13. 

Hurricanes wing Ben Lam simply cannot stop scoring tries and he scored another hat-trick last weekend this time against the Lions. He leads the way as Super Rugby's top try scorer with 12 tries. 

 

15

Israel Folau

Waratahs

Made a joint round-high 17 carries, gained 88m, made four offloads, and a round-high five clean breaks.

14

Seta Tamanivalu

Crusaders

Made four clean breaks and an offload from 11 carries, scoring one  try and providing assists for two more.

13

Jack Goodhue

Crusaders

Made a game-high 13 carries, gaining 41m, made one clean break, 7/7 tackles, beat three defenders, and scored a try.

12

Andre Esterhuizen

Sharks

Beat a round-high seven defenders, made four clean breaks, and gained 64m from 10 carries.

11

Ben Lam

Hurricanes

Scored his second hat-trick in five games, made three clean breaks, two offloads, and gained 73m from 11 carries.

10

Beauden Barrett

Hurricanes

Gained 104m from seven carries, made two clean breaks, one offload, 9/11 tackles, and booted 4/4 goals.

9

Augustine Pulu

Blues

Made seven tackles without missing, five carries for 27m gained, two clean breaks, and one offload.

8

Akira Ioane

Blues

Beat three defenders, made 9/11 tackles, winning two turnovers as well as claiming four lineouts

7

Ardie Savea

Hurricanes

Made 10 carries for 80m gained, two clean breaks, 11/12 tackles, won two turnovers and scored one try.

6

Marnus Shoeman

Lions

Made a round-high 21 tackles, beat four defenders from six carries, crossing for a try, and won two turnovers.

5

Pieter-Steph du Toit

Stormers

Won eight lineouts, including one lineout steal, made 16 tackles, won two turnovers and provided a try assist.

4

Lodewyk De Jager

Bulls

Won four lineouts, made two offloads, 10 carries for 28m, and crossed for a try.

3

Angus Taavao-Matau

Chiefs

Won two turnovers and made seven carries, no prop made more, beating one defender.

2

Armand van der Merwe

Sharks

Made 9/10 successful throws, two offloads, one clean break, five carries for 27m, and scored a try in his side's big win over the Highlanders.

1

Wyatt Crockett

Crusaders

Missed just one of six tackle attempts, made one clean break and crossed for a try from one of his three carries.

 

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.