OPTA's Super Rugby Aotearoa Team and Player of the Tournament
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After an exceptional 10-round tournament in New Zealand which saw the Crusaders top the tournament and claim the Super Rugby Aoteaora title, SANZAAR and OPTA have revealed their Team of the Tournament.
The Crusaders' dynasty marched to their fourth straight title losing just one game to the Hurricanes with Scott Robertson's side supplying five players to the team of the tournament. The Blues who finished in second place six points behind the winners provide half of the pack including the impressive No.8 Hoskins Sotutu and their captain and lock Patrick Tuipulotu while the third-placed Hurricanes have two players in the team.
Finally, the Highlanders have one player in the XV with the Chiefs having two.
The team was selected using the Opta Perform index has also drawn Crusaders fly-half Richie Mo'unga as the Player of the Tournament and there can be little argument with that.
He was masterful in driving the Crusaders around the field, kicked his goals and was a constant threat to the defensive lines of the opposition. He played in all their matches and scored the most points (99) of any player including three tries.
Mo'unga is joined by two fellow Crusaders in the backline in Will Jordan at fullback and Sevu Reece on the right wing. Warren Gatland's Chiefs' finished the competition winless but two Chiefs still manage to make the side with the first being Anton Lienert-Brown who slots in at outside centre and is partnered with the Hurricanes' Ngani Laumape.
Laumape's 13 clean breaks were the second-most of any player in the competition; he also beat 28 defenders, made five offloads and scored one try from his 75 carries in six games.
Mo'unga is partnered with TJ Perenara with the scrumhalf beating more defenders (14) and made more offloads (7) than any other scrumhalf in the tournament while he also made three try assists, nine clean breaks and scored one try.
Caleb Clarke is the only Blues back after he made 10 clean breaks, beat 18 defenders and made seven offloads, as well as gaining an average of 7.7m per carry from his 45 season carries.
The Blues' are well represented up front with loosehead prop Alex Hodgman joined the front row with fellow Aucklander Ofa Tu'ungafasi at tighthead and Crusader Codie Taylor at hooker.
Blues captain Patrick Tuipulotu lines up alongside Sam Whitelock in the pack while Shannon Frizell, Lachlan Boshier and Hoskins Sotutu complete the pack.
The Opta Index allows genuine opportunities to compare and contrast both player and team strengths and weaknesses across Super Rugby, providing real insights pre-game as follows: After every match Opta completes a video analysis of every touch of the ball. Each action in the match is awarded a points value depending on the relative importance of the action. So for example, a try scores more points than a tackle, but a player loses points for a missed tackle. The player is then given a score for the match by adding up all his actions while he was on the field. The total match score is then weighted to take account of the strength of the opposition so that performances across many matches can be judged fairly.
