Emirates Lions roar as other teams wilt
The Emirates Lions claimed a nail-biting victory over the Vodacom Bulls at home to end off a woeful weekend for the South African Conference.
The match was nearly decided by the boot duels between flyhalves Jacques-Louis Potgieter and Elton Jantjies of the Bulls and Lions respectively before hooker Armand van der Merwe scored at the death to clinch it for the home side.
Potgieter and Jantjies topped the points-scoring category for the efforts in the rain-affected match with the former topping the stats on the Vodacom Rugby App.
The Bulls pivot contributed 18 of his side’s points while Jantjies scored one-point less with the duo also topping the Penalty Goals category with six and five apiece.
DHL Stormers captain Duane Vermeulen was once again a titan for his side in their 25-20 defeat to the Hurricanes in Wellington.
Vermeulen and Sefenaia Naivalu of the Rebels made the most Carries over the weekend with 17 apiece.
If it was not for Naivalu’s presence, it would have been a Stormers whitewash in the top five of the Carries category as Damian de Allende (16), Schalk Burger and Vincent with 15 each make up the rest.
De Allende continues his fine form in the competition, leading the Defenders Beaten bracket as he bamboozled the opposition on eight occasions over the weekend.
This category is also dominated by South African players as Bulls captain Pierre Spies and Cell C Sharks scrumhalf Cobus Reinach share third place with Christian Lealiifano of the Brumbies beating five defenders each.
In the Turnovers Won category the Reds’ Liam rules the roost with his four with Bulls centre JJ Engelbrecht, David Pocock (Brumbies) and Luke Braid (Blues) equal in second place with three. Sharks centre Andre Esterhuizen also make it into the top-five with the two turnovers he won over the weekend.
Round-8 Stats:
Points:
1. Jacques-Louis Potgieter (Bulls) – 18
2. Elton Jantjies (Lions) – 17
3. Beauden Barrett (Hurricanes) – 15
4. Christian Lealiifano (Brumbies) – 15
5. Colin Slade (Crusaders) – 15
Penalty Goals:
1. Jacques-Louis Potgieter (Bulls) – 6
2. Elton Jantjies (Lions) – 5
3. Aaron Cruden (Chiefs) – 3
4. Beauden Barrett (Hurricanes) – 2
5. Christian Lealiifano (Brumbies) – 2
Kicks from Hand:
1. Beauden Barrett (Chiefs) – 9
2. Cobus Reinach (Sharks) – 8
3. Jacques-Louis Potgieter (Bulls) – 8
4. Will Genia (Reds) – 8
5. Demetri Catraklilis (Stormers) – 7
Clean Breaks:
1. Sefenaia Naivalu (Rebels) – 5
2. Frank Halai (Blues) – 4
3. Huw Jones (Stormers) – 4
4. David Kaetau Havili (Crusaders) – 3
5. Nemani Nadolo (Crusaders) – 3
Carries:
1. Duane Vermeulen (Stormers) – 17
2. Sefenaia Naivalu (Rebels) – 17
3. Damian de Allende (Stormers) – 16
4. Schalk Burger (Stormers) – 15
5. Vincent Koch (Stormers) – 15
Defenders Beaten:
1. Damian de Allende (Stormers) – 8
2. Nehe Milner-Skudder (Hurricanes) – 6
3. Christian Lealiifano (Brumbies) – 5
4. Cobus Reinch (Sharks) – 5
5. Pierre Spies (Bulls) – 5
Turnovers Won:
1. Liam Gill (Reds) – 4
2. David Pocock (Brumbies) – 3
3. JJ Engelbrecht (Bulls) – 3
4. Luke Braid (Blues) – 3
5. Andre Esterhuizen (Sharks) – 2
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