The Super Rugby Team of the Week has representatives from 10 of the teams in a weekend that saw four away victories in the six-match round. Once again Chiefs fly-half Damian McKenzie put in a huge all-round performance to be Player of the Week.

McKenzie's statistics, thanks to his open-field running and defenders beaten, edged out Sharks fly-half Robert du Preez for a place in TOTW who also had a massive game scoring 38 points against the Blues.

 

15

Michael Collins

Blues

One of just six players to both score and assist a try at the weekend, made 15 carries, gaining 66 metres and beating three defenders in the process.

14

Taqele Naiyaravoro

Waratahs

Gained 110 metres from just 10 carries, thanks to a joint round-high four clean breaks, while he was one of just three players to cross the try line more than once.

13

Anton Lienert-Brown

Chiefs

No back made more successful offloads than Lienert-Brown, who beat six defenders from 15 carries and gained 65 metres.

12

Damian de Allende

Stormers

Made a joint round-high four clean breaks from his 13 carries, beating five defenders and crossing for a try.

11

Ben Lam

Hurricanes

Crossed for four tries against the Rebels as well as gained 104 metres, beating four defenders and making four clean breaks from nine carries.

10

Damian McKenzie

Chiefs

Beat an incredible 14 defenders - six more than any other player - from 14 carries, while he didn't miss a single kick at goal (5/5) and made 10/11 tackles.

9

Will Genia

Rebels

Carried more than any other scrum half, gaining 34 metres, as well as providing a try assist against the 'Canes.

8

Amanaki Mafi

Rebels

Despite having to be replaced after 40 minutes, he gained 107 metres against the Hurricanes, no other forward gained more than 60m in Round 7, beating four defenders and making eight tackles.

7

Jean-Luc du Preez

Sharks

The only forward to both score and assist a try, made the most offloads of any forward as well as beating seven defenders and making 16 tackles.

6

Phillip Van Der Walt

Sharks

Made the second most tackles of any player (17/18) despite playing just 59 minutes, while he also gained 31 metres from nine carries.

5

Sam Whitelock

Crusaders

Crossed for a try and was one of two locks to reach double figures for both carries and tackles in Round 7, as well as claiming three lineouts.

4

Patrick Tuipulotu

Blues

Crossed for a try, gained 51 metres and beat three defenders from his nine carries as well as making 11 tackles.

3

Allan Alaalatoa

Brumbies

Playing the full 80 minutes for the Brumbies Alaalatoa was one of just two front rowers to hit double figures for both carries and tackles.

2

Adriaan Strauss

Bulls

Scored a hat-trick, the only forward to cross more than once in Round 7, didn't miss a tackle and found a teammate with 10 lineout throws.

1

Steven Kitshoff

Stormers

Made eight tackles and missed just one, as well as chipping in with seven carries against the Bulls.

 

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.