Team of the Week: Two-horse race

SUPER RUGBY UNLOCKED SPOTLIGHT: Reader Sean Bagley entertains us with his weekly view of who the best performing players were.

This week the pickings were slim again – with just two matches, after the Lions versus Pumas fixture was ‘postponed’ as a result of a COVID-19 outbreak in Nelspruit.

Three teams feature in Bagley’s starting XV – the Sharks and Stormers, with a solitary Cheetah breaking the coastal teams’ monopoly.

Despite taking the Sharks all the way to the wire – eventually losing (33-24) to a late Curwin Bosch penalty – Griquas managed just four players on the bench.

The Stormers, who smashed the Cheetahs 30-13 in a surprisingly one-sided affair, have nine starters.

There are five Sharks and a Cheetah.

Sean Bagley XV: 15 Warrick Gelant (Stormers), 14 Ruhan Nel (Stormers), 13 Jeremy Ward (Sharks), 12 Rikus Pretorius (Stormers), 11 Rosko Specman (Cheetahs), 10 Damian Willemse (Stormers), 9 Sanele Nohamba (Sharks), 8 Juarno Augustus (Stormers), 7 Thembelani Bholi (Sharks), 6 Dylan Richardson (Sharks), 5 John Schickerling (Stormers), 4 Ruben Van Heerden (Sharks), 3 Frans Malherbe (Stormers), 2 Siyabonga Ntubeni (Stormers), 1 Steven Kitshoff (Stormers).
Replacements: 16 HJ Luus (Griquas), 17 Mox Mxoli (Griquas), 18 Luan De Bruin (Cheetahs), 19 Cameron Lindsay (Griquas), 20 Andisa Ntsila (Cheetahs), 21 Herschel Jantjies (Stormers), 22 Tinus De Beer (Griquas), 23 Marius Louw (Sharks).

@rugby365com

Weekend highlights

Friday, November 13

Griquas 33-34 Sharks

Saturday, November 14

Stormers 30-13 Cheetahs