South Africa Super Rugby's best travellers but Kiwi pocket rocket takes the cake
New Zealand may have dominated Super Rugby for the last decade, but South African forwards proved to be the best ‘travellers’.
SANZAAR has punched the numbers and select a Team of the Decade – based on away performances.
New Zealand teams have won seven of the 10 titles since 2001, with their backs providing the bulk of the Away Team of the Decade.
There are eight Kiwis in the teams, six of them among the backs.
The picture looks very different among the forwards.
South Africa, despite having only one title in that period, provides four players – three of them among the forwards.
And all three were key players in the South African pack that dominated England in the World Cup Final (winning 32-12) in Yokohama last November.
That confirms the suggestion that South African forwards generally travel well.
The pack includes two current Springbok World Cup-winning front row forwards in Stormers prop Steven Kitshoff and Lions hooker Malcolm Marx – who between them made 506 tackles.
The mighty Marx gained an average of 23 metres per game in that stretch – the most of any tight forward to play at least 20 away games in that period.
The lock pairing is Rudolph Snyman (Bulls) and Brodie Retallick (Chiefs).
They won 301 line-outs between them. Snyman made 162 carries from his 25 appearances, while Retallick crossed for eight tries, made 487 tackles, and 336 carries from 53 games on the road.
The fourth Springbok is aggressive Bulls centre Jan Serfontein – who made 10+ carries and 10+ tackles in a game from inside centre on five occasions.
Team of the decade – away form:
15 Damian McKenzie (Chiefs)
Has scored 20+ points in an away game on seven occasions in Super Rugby since debuting in 2015 – more than any other player – and he has been directly involved in 24 tries in his last 18 games away from home in the competition (10 tries, 14 try assists).
14 James Lowe (Chiefs)
Scored 13 tries in 28 games away from home, as well as making 48 clean breaks and 38 offloads – he also gained the most metres per game (76) of any wing to play at least 20 games on the road.
13 Charles Piutau (Blues)
Gained an average of 79 metres per game away from home in the last decade of Super Rugby – the second-most of any player (min. 10 games in that stretch.
12 Jan Serfontein (Bulls)
He’s made 10+ carries and 10+ tackles in a game from inside centre on five occasions, the second-most of any player in the last decade of Super Rugby (Kyle Godwin – 7).
11 Nemani Nadolo (Crusaders)
No Crusaders player has scored multiple tries in an away game more times in the last decade than Nadolo (three); his hat-trick against the Cheetahs in Round 9, 2014 is unbeaten by Crusaders players in such fixtures.
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10 Beauden Barrett (Hurricanes)
He’s scored 9.5 points per game away from home in the last decade of Super Rugby, the most of any of the 71 players to have played at least 50 games in that time.
9 TJ Perenara (Hurricanes)
He’s scored 30 tries away from home in Super Rugby – only one player has scored more in the last decade (Israel Folau – 31); he’s also made 48 clean breaks, and 56 offloads in that span.
8 Amanaki Mafi (Rebels/Sunwolves)
Mafi is the only forward to have made 20+ carries in an away game on multiple occasions in the last decade of Super Rugby; he’s done so three times.
7 Luke Braid (Blues)
Braid has made 329 carries and 350 tackles in his 36 games away from home in Super Rugby in the last 10 years, as well as having made 45 offloads and winning 40 turnovers.
6 Sean McMahon (Rebels)
McMahon has beaten an average of 3.6 defenders per game away from home in the last decade of Super Rugby – the most of any forward to have played at least 10 away games in that span.
5 Brodie Retallick (Chiefs)
He’s won 182 line-outs (including steals) in the last decade of Super Rugby when playing away from home, as well as crossing for eight tries, making 487 tackles, and 336 carries from 53 games on the road.
4 RG Snyman (Bulls)
He’s won 119 line-outs (including steals), made 43 offloads, and made 162 carries from his 25 appearances away from home in the last decade of Super Rugby.
3 Allan Alaalatoa (Brumbies)
He’s made 10+ tackles in six of his last seven Super Rugby games played away from home including a tally of 17 against the Stormers in Round 10, 2019.
2 Malcolm Marx (Lions)
Made 202 carries from his 29 games away from home, gaining an average of 23 metres per game in that stretch – the most of any tight-five forward to play at least 20 away games in that period.
1 Steven Kitshoff (Stormers)
Has made 304 tackles, won 15 turnovers, and made 22 carries from his 47 games away from home in the last decade of Super Rugby.
– with Super Rugby
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
2 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments