Team of the Week
- Ayden Johnstone (Highlanders)- impressive in the tight, making 13 tackles and strong in the scrums.
- Asafo Aumua (Hurricanes)- showed his power with some huge shots, 35m gained, a clean break and an offload.
- Ofa Tu’ungafasi (Blues)- huge in defence with 11 tackles, consistently strong in the scrums and made a try saving tackle on Richie Mo’unga in the second-half.
- Patrick Tuipulotu (Blues)- despite being on the losing side, Tuipulotu was still a powerhouse with 11 tackles, seven carries and four line outs won.
- Jack Whetton (Highlanders)- huge in defence, making 18 tackles and missing none. Definitely deserved his start this week.
- Akira Ioane (Blues)- the Blues flanker comes in to the team with 7 huge carries and 13 tackles. A really powerful player who works well with his back-row colleagues.
- Dalton Papali’i (Blues)- one of my favourite players in the tournament so far, Papali’i made 14 tackles and won a turnover, whilst making a nuisance of himself at the breakdown.
- Whetukamokamo Douglas (Crusaders)- a strong performance from the no8, with 10 carries and the same number of tackles.
- TJ Perenara (Hurricanes)- scored a great try in the first half, made 85 passes and made a clean break.
- Richie Mo’unga (Crusaders)- his last 20 minutes gets him in the team, as he almost single-handedly turned the game around for the Crusaders. He made 48m, beat six defenders and scored 16 points.
- George Bridge (Crusaders)- Bridge makes the team this week, making 43m and covering his opposite man successfully.
- Patelsio Tomlinson (Highlanders)- a huge all-round performance with 27m gained and 16 tackles.
- Braydon Ennor (Crusaders)- statistically not as good as some other centres this week, but Ennor makes the team for his game changing charge-down of Otere Black’s conversion and his six tackles.
- Mark Telea (Blues)- an excellent performance from the wing, with a try, 63m gained, three defenders beaten and nine tackles.
- Jordie Barrett (Hurricanes)- not a strong week from the fullbacks, but Barrett makes the team with 28m gained, no missed tackles, two defenders beaten and a try assist. Seems to have injected some life into the ‘Canes side.
*all statistics from rugbypass.com
