Four Irishmen join the South African all-stars
THE Stormers lifted the inaugural United Rugby Championship as they saw off the Bulls 18-13 in an allSouth African final.
The champions have the most inclusions in the 2021-22 Dream Team with five, while the runners-up have three. Fellow South African side the Sharks have two.
Last season’s PRO14 champions Leinster, who lost in the semi-finals, have a solitary inclusion; Ulster, who missed out on a place in the final courtesy of an 87th-minute conversion winner by Manie Libbok, have two selections, the same as Munster.
No teams from Wales, Scotland or Italy are represented.
1. Ox Nche (Sharks)
The seven-cap Springbok loosehead continues to impress as one of the most dominant scrummagers in world rugby and his work in the loose was a key figure in the Sharks finishing fifth.
2. Johan Grobbelaar (Bulls)
Grobbelaar scored the joint fourth most tries with nine as he was a key part of a formidable lineout that won the most clean balls in the competition (185).
3. Thomas du Toit (Sharks)
The Springbok international showed why he has won 13 caps as he was sensational at scrum time and in open play, even scoring three tries in 18 starts. 4. Jean Kleyn (Munster) At 6ft 8ins and 19 stone, South African Kleyn is a monster in the second row and provided Munster with essential physicality.
5. Ruan Nortje (Bulls) South Africa’s embarrassment of riches is the only reason Nortje hasn’t received an international call up as the towering lock made the fourth most tackles (203) and second most lineout steals (10).
6. Marcell Coetzee (Bulls)
The joint top try scorer (11) played in every Bulls match this season and would expect to add to his 30 international caps against Wales next month.
7. Nick Timoney (Ulster)
The one-time Ireland international scored an impressive seven tries and made the most tackles in the competition (274), while also making the eighth most carries (155).
8. Evan Roos (Stormers)
The URC fans Player of the Season means the Springboks may have unearthed another No.8 gem as Roos made more carries than anyone else (261) and won the fifth most turnovers (16).
9. Craig Casey (Munster) The energetic scrum-half possesses one of the best deliveries in the URC and scored the joint eighth most tries (7) to bolster his chances of adding to his four Ireland caps.
10. Ross Byrne (Leinster) Byrne was a controlling force at No.10 and impressed with his accuracy from the tee, scoring the fifth-most points in the competition (125) in Jonny Sexton’s absence.
11. Leolin Zas (Stormers) A winger with pace to burn, Zas was the competition’s top try scorer with 10 and also made the second most clean breaks (19).
12. Damian Willemse (Stormers)
Willemse impressed at both 10 and 12 and was in the top ten for metres gained (5th – 692 ) and offloads (7th – 20).
13. James Hume (Ulster) The three-cap Ireland centre scored six tries and was a key cog in Ulster’s devastating backline with his blistering pace and silky footwork.
14. Seabelo Senatla (Stormers)
Senatla joined the Barbarians
for their match against Spain yesterday after the hot stepper scored the joint fourth most tries in the competition (9).
15. Warrick Gelant (Stormers)
Such a classy presence in the backfield, Gelant has sparked mesmeric Stormers counter-attacks with his vision, speed and intelligence, and deserves to add to his nine Springbok caps this summer.