The Super Rugby Team of the Week has representatives from nine of the teams after a weekend that saw the Waratahs and Hurricanes move to the top of their respective Conferences. Indeed the Waratahs contribute four players to the TOTW, with the Blues, who returned to form in Tokyo, contributing three players.

Waratahs giant winger Taqele Naiyaravoro is Player of the Week after a run of hot form in recent weeks and a return of two tries and 185 running metres against the Reds in Sydney in Week 9.

15

Warrick Gelant

Bulls

Made 11 carries and crossed for a hat-trick of tries.

14

Ben Lam

Hurricanes

Gained 139m from nine carries, beat eight defenders, and made three clean breaks as well as scoring a try.

13

Curtis Rona

Waratahs

Made 8 tackles, beat seven defenders, and gained 79m from 12 carries.

12

Rieko Ioane

Blues

Made 17 carries for 70m gained, made three offloads, two clean breaks, and provided a try assist.

11

Taqele Naiyaravoro

Waratahs

Made the most metres (185), clean breaks (6), and offloads (5) of any player in Round 9, also scoring a brace of tries.

10

Bernard Foley

Waratahs

Landed 7/7 attempts at goal, made 11 carries for 38m, and made one clean break.

9

Jonathan Ruru

Blues

Made 7/8 tackles, five carries, two offloads, and six kicks in general play.

8

Akira Ioane

Blues

Crossed for a seventh try in as many games, made 16 carries, beat eight defenders, and won four lineouts.

7

Jean-Luc du Preez

Sharks

Made seven tackles without miss, 15 carries, and beat four defenders.

6

Shannon Frizell

Highlanders

Made nine tackles without miss, eight carries for 47m gained and crossed for a try.

5

Grant Hattingh

Sunwolves

Beat two defenders, made 17/19 tackles, and gained 22m from nine carries. Also won four turnovers.

4

Thomas Franklin

Highlanders

Made 21 tackles, the second most of any player, missing just one further attempt, and made five carries for 12m gained.

3

Ruan Smith

Reds

Beat two defenders, made 11 carries and 3/3 tackles.

2

Damien Fitzpatrick

Waratahs

Won 7/9 throws, made 18/20 tackles and made one clean break from seven carries.

1

Scott Sio

Brumbies

Made two carries and finished with a 100% tackle success rate from four attempts.

 

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.