Players competing at the top end of Superbru’s United Rugby Championship fantasy game will have had an added interest in Saturday’s Grand Final as they jostled for position in the final standings.
But which players provided the biggest boost in terms of fantasy points as the DHL Stormers edged the Vodacom Bulls to take the title?
Here, we take a look at the top 10.
1. Evan Roos (DHL Stormers) - 17 points
Roos has been the star of the inaugural URC season and was a stand-out performer once again in the Grand Final. He scored the try that kick-started the Stormers’ second-half resurgence in an 18-13 victory and completed more successful carries than any other player (7). He also beat more defenders than any of his Stormers colleagues (4).
2. Manie Libbok (DHL Stormers) - 14 (inc. 4.5 kicking points)
Libbok missed a couple of efforts from the tee but still did enough to climb to second on this list, aided by 9.5 points for his general play. The fly-half rounded off the scoring on the night with a drop-goal five minutes from time.
=2. Chris Smith (Vodacom Bulls) - 14 (inc. 8 kicking points)
Smith outperformed Libbok for kicking accuracy at the weekend, contributing two penalties and a conversion - a performance that supercharged his placing on this list.
4. Andre-Hugo Venter (DHL Stormers) - 13
Venter stepped off the bench to score the Stormers’ second try after the Bulls had been reduced to 14 men by the sin-binning of Cornal Hendricks.
5. Hacjivah Dayimani (DHL Stormers) - 12
If days spent celebrating was worth any fantasy points then Dayimani would top this list at a canter. At the time of writing, the back-row forward was still wearing his full kit and winner’s medal having spent four days marking the Stormers’ success, including sharing a drink with the mayor of Cape Town. His on-field display was worth 12 points to fantasy players.
6. Madosh Tambwe (Vodacom Bulls) - 11.5
Tambwe was the top-scoring Bulls player when kicking points are taken out of the equation, gaining more metres than any other player (63). He also led the way for defenders beaten (7) and clean breaks (2) on his last ever outing for the Bulls.
7. Steven Kitshoff (DHL Stormers) - 10.5
John Dobson said Kitshoff epitomised the attitude that had delivered a historic victory for the Stormers after the match and the captain put in a tremendous shift in the front row.
=7. Johan Grobbelaar (Vodacom Bulls) - 10.5
Grobbelaar has been one of the season’s stand-out hookers and it was his burst that led to the Bulls’ early try. He made more successful carries than any other Bulls player on the night (6).
9. Deon Fourie (DHL Stormers) - 10
Fourie has had a memorable end to the season. He earned a call-up to the Springboks squad at the grand old age of 35 before making his 100th Stormers appearance in a Grand Final victory that saw him named Vodacom Man of the Match.
10. Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls) - 9.5
Arendse came back into the Bulls side to provide plenty of his trademark attacking intent, but it was not enough to see the visitors build on their early lead at the DHL Stadium.
