Team of the Week: Shark infested; Rugby 365

Just to add some impartiality to the selections for team of the week, here are Rugby 365's choices:

It was to be expe cted, given their impressive start to the season, but the Sharks dominate our famous weekly selection.

Only one Sharks player, from the starting XV, does not feature in either our frontline selection or back-up squads.

There are 10 Sharks in our starting XV, with another four 'bubbling under'.

The Cheetahs (three) and Lions (two) make up the numbers in our frontline selection.

There are six Cheetahs bubbling under, with four Lions and a solitary Bull making up the numbers.

Team of the Week - Round One:

15 - SP Marais (Sharks):
Showed why the Sharks were so keen last year to obtain his services. Coped very well with the conditions.
Bubbling under: Willie le Roux (Cheetahs)

14 - Cornal Hendricks (Cheetahs):
A product of the Sevens conveyor belt he showed his attacking class.
Bubbling under: Odwa Ndungane (Sharks)

13 - Paul Jordaan (Sharks):
Pure pace and has a good rugby brain to boot.
Bubbling under: Lionel Mapoe (Lions)

12 - Frans Steyn (Sharks):
The trim version that overcame last year's injury issues looked a lot closer to the 2007 World Cup winner.
Bubbling under: Stefan Watermeyer (Lions)

11 - Lwazi Mvovo (Sharks):
He's always had pace and power, but that run and off-load for the opening try were simply sublime.
Bubbling under: Raymond Rhule (Cheetahs)

10 - Marnitz Boshoff (Lions):
Going to make life tough for Springbok Elton Jantjies to get his No.10 jersey back.
Bubbling under: Patrick Lambie (Sharks)

9 - Cobus Reinach (Sharks):
Made his Springbok counterpart look decidedly second rate.
Bubbling under: Shaun Venter (Cheetahs)

8 - Ryan Kankowski (Sharks):
He may not be back to his best yet, but with a bit more improvement he will be in the Bok selection frame.
Bubbling under: Philip van der Walt (Cheetahs)

7 - Derick Minnie (Lions):
Much less penalised and far more effective. However, most impressive was his carries.
Bubbling under: Pieter Labuschagne (Cheetahs)

6 - Marcell Coetzee (Sharks):
Was a close call between Coetzee and Jaco Kriel, with Johannes Prinsloo not too far behind. Coetzee's defensive effort saw him edge a good three-way battle.
Bubbling under: Jaco Kriel (Lions)

5 - Pieter-Steph du Toit (Sharks):
Pure Springbok!
Bubbling under: Franco van der Merwe (Lions)

4 - Lodewyk de Jager (Cheetahs):
If he continues with this kind of form he will be in the Springbok selection frame at some stage. We can even forgive him a couple of missed tackles.
Bubbling under: Anton Bresler (Sharks)

3 - Coenie Oosthuizen (Cheetahs):
Not as many barnstorming runs or poaches as we've come to expect, but his work on defence was enormous.
Bubbling under: Jannie du Plessis (Sharks)

2 - Bismarck du Plessis (Sharks):
Simply the best!
Bubbling under: Adriaan Strauss (Cheetahs)

1 - Tendai Mtawarira (Sharks):
It was a quiet weekend for loosehead props, who were involved mostly in set pieces.
Bubbling under: Dean Greyling (Bulls)

Our individual selections!

Michael de Vries XV: 15 SP Marais, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Paul Jordaan, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Patrick Lambie, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Derick Minnie, 6 Johannes Prinsloo, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Lodewyk de Jager, 3 Coenraad Oosthuizen, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.

Paul Dobson XV: 15 Willem le Roux, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Paul Jordaan, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Marnitz Boshoff, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Pieter Labuschagne, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Lodewyk de Jager, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.

Quintin van Jaarsveld XV: 15 SP Marais, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Paul Jordaan, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Marnitz Boshoff, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Philip van der Walt, 7 Derick Minnie, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Lodewyk de Jager, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.

Jan de Koning XV: 15 SP Marais, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Paul Jordaan, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Marnitz Boshoff, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Derick Minnie, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Lodewyk de Jager, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Dean Greyling.

 Just win

Wee Du Toit?  He is stronger than Jaws by a mile and a better lock than he would ever be.   The best NZ lock is Sam Whitelock - but he is also rather useless in tight contests.

Seriously now - we are discussing locks - of which NZ is in dire need.

 This type of selection by reporters is always questionable and when looking at the situation there are issues to be taken into account when evaluating players - but there are two issues that always work, the one being -

*   the impression a player makes in running with ball in hand;

*   the issue of hype.

I think there are two very controversial selections - namely at 10 and 7:-

Lambie vs Boshoff  

Let me in the first instance say that I have always rated Boshoff as a very good 10 - miles better than Earl Silky Hands can ever be,  I have my doubts about this one though and for that reason took a good hard look at the statisticsL-

Not much in it - but the absence of defence by Boshoff is putting a question mark over his selection.   Also his more telling goal kicking stats.   Otherwise Lambie was better in attack - scoring a try as well.  

I think it was a 50-50 case - but as an all-round flyhalf I would definitely have gone with Lambie.

The Number 7 Position

Here again I looked at the stats for guidance - since the selection is also questionable.  It was only necessary to look at the stats of three of the four players involved - since Alberts was so hopelessly poor.

Minnie

0/0

0

0/7/14

84

0

3

1

2

2/0

3/0

1

0/0

Labuschagne

0/0

0

0/4/4

18

0

0

1

0

15/1

1/0

0

0/0

du Plessis

0/0

0

0/0/13

19

0

3

0

0

16/1

2/0

3

0/0

Minnie looked very good with ball in hand - but he was not a factor in defence at all. 

Labuschagne was less effective than he normally is - but he was very effective in defence and ball protection,

Du Plessis ball carries was ineffective - his defence good and the penalties he gave away really problematic.

A toss-up and a close call between Minnie and Labuschagne.

The rest of the selections seems relatively straightforward - with some question marks over Du Toit vs Flippie and hendriks vs Mv ovo