Top six Springbok performers in the Nations Championship
· Citizen
The Springboks have so far dominated the new Nations Championship competition, picking up three comfortable wins to top the overall and Southern Hemisphere logs after three rounds.
The next three rounds will be battled out in November, with the teams from each pool lined up against each other, with first in the Southern Hemisphere playing first in the Northern Hemisphere, followed by two playing two and so on.
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At the top of the Southern Hemisphere log are the Boks on 15 points, level with the All Blacks, but ahead thanks to a positive points difference of 81 compared to New Zealand’s 51. Australia (8 points) follow in third, with Argentina (7) fourth, Japan (4) fifth and Fiji (0) sixth.
Among the Northern Hemisphere sides, France (12) are top, followed by Scotland (11), England (10), Ireland (10), Wales (5) and Italy (0).
If things remain the same over the next three rounds, the Boks would take on France for the inaugural title at the end of November.
During the Boks’ impressive wins over England (45-21), Scotland (42-28) and Wales (43-0), a number of players stood out. Here are our six of the best from the Boks:
Paul de Villiers
Paul de Villiers enjoyed a stunning start to Springbok life with three superb performances. It was an incredible start to his Bok career, with him originally not named in the match 23 to face England. But a late injury to captain Siya Kolisi thrust him straight into the starting lineup, and after an impressive debut, he went on to put in two further brilliant shifts against Scotland and Wales. The 23-year-old has a very bright Springbok future ahead of him.
Jesse Kriel
The ever dependable Jesse Kriel played every single minute of the Boks three Nations Championship matches so far, and also played the full 80 in their season opening non-Test against the Barbarians. Kriel has become one of the Boks key go-to men over the past few years, and continues to marshal things as one of the midfield generals. He has been in top form, on defence and attack, scoring a try in every match this season.
Damian Willemse
Damian Willemse reached a landmark in their opening Nations Championship Test against England, making his 50th Bok appearance, and celebrated the occasion with an incredible action packed performance from his usual position at fullback. He followed that up by slotting in at inside centre against the Scots and against produced a wonderful performance, before a cameo appearance off the bench against Wales capped off a strong start to his season.
Pieter-Steph du Toit
With captain Siya Kolisi out injured and usual deputy Eben Etzebeth suffering from concussion symptoms, Pieter-Steph du Toit stepped into the breach and superbly led the Boks in their three Nations Champions wins. Du Toit, like Kriel, played the full 80 minutes of every game, and showed his versatility by slotting in at lock against England, before shifting back to his usual place at the side of the scrum for Scotland and Wales, and put in his usual high class performance in every game.
Ben-Jason Dixon and Cobus Wiese
Although the two utility forwards didn’t play as many minutes as other players on this list, they made vitaly important contributions, especially considering the Boks current lock crisis. Over the Nations Championship the Boks had seven locks out injured, namely, RG Snyman, Salmaan Moerat, Jean Kleyn, Franco Mostert, and youngster Riley Norton.
After Pieter-Steph du Toit started at four against England, Wiese took over as the starting lock against Scotland and Wales and very did well. Dixon played as a sub in all three matches in the second row and was superb. Both have now eased any concerns over the position going forward.