The latest weekend of United Rugby Championship action delivered some outstanding individual performances with five South African based players making the cut.
Here, we take a look at the best players by position from the weekend’s matches, with each side afforded a maximum of three representatives in the final XV.
Vodacom Bulls Kurt-Lee Arendse is no stranger to this team making this his third time this season. The full-back touched down twice in the 46-29 win against Benetton and made more clean breaks (3) and gained more metres (121) than anyone else on the pitch.
Cell C Sharks' Makazole Mapimpi is always a threat for the Sharks and it was his interception try that got the Durban outfit off the mark after they had fallen behind to Scott Penny’s opener.
Fly-half Curwin Bosch kicked eight points for the Sharks and although he allowed other opportunities to go to waste, he made up for it with his general play. The Sharks' number 10 made three clean breaks, beat six defenders and gained 138 metres – all match-leading figures.
Evan Roos continues to be tipped for Springbok honours and it is not hard to see why. He made 10 successful carries in the DHL Stormers’ 32-7 win against Glasgow Warriors, beating five defenders and scoring his side’s bonus-point try in the last minute.
Ruan Nortje had another Player of the Match display. Nortje lead his team for tackles (6), while he also had a prominent role in the build-up to the Bulls’ first try.
Team: 15. Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls), 14. Tommy O’Brien (Leinster), 13. Mark Bennett (Edinburgh), 12. Tommaso Menoncello (Benetton), 11. Makazole Mapimpi (Cell C Sharks), 10. Curwin Bosch (Cell C Sharks), 9. Rhys Webb (Ospreys), 8. Evan Roos (DHL Stormers), 7. Jac Morgan (Ospreys), 6. Ben Muncaster (Edinburgh), 5. Ruan Nortje (Vodacom Bulls), 4. Sam Lousi (Scarlets), 3. Stephen Archer (Munster), 2. Ryan Elias (Scarlets), 1. Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh).
