With the Super Rugby season drawing to a close, who has been the find of the year? With the help of our deep collection of stats, we’ve looked at the best newcomers of 2014.
Check out the contenders and then vote in the poll below for your Super Rugby find of the season.
Alofa Alofa (Waratahs)
Alofa Alofa on a break out wide
The former league player announced himself as a player to watch with as someone to keep an eye on with some eye-catching performances in NSW’s pre-season trials.
Then the twinkle-toed stepper marked his Super Rugby debut with a try in the Waratahs’ opening round win against Western Force at Allianz Stadium.
Injury stunted his season somewhat, but Alofa has scored four five-pointers all up to be equal third on the Tahs’ try-scoring list for 2014. He’s off to French rugby next season, but has his eye on a Super Rugby title with the Waratahs before he leaves.
Marnitz Boshoff (Lions)
A virtual unknown when the season kicked off, the Lions flyhalf made the Super Rugby world sit up and take notice by guiding his unheralded side to shock back-to-back wins in the opening two rounds.
Boshoff kicked all 21 points — six penalties and the winning field goal — as the Lions upset the Cheetahs first up, then followed with a 29-point haul — the most by an individual in a Super Rugby match this season — as they stunned the Stormers.
A dead-eye for goal he landed his first 15 attempts, before finally missing in week three, and has a kicking percentage of 88.5%, the best among the five leading point-scorers in the competition.
His 170 points to date has him fourth on the Super Rugby point-scoring list and has seen him set a new Lions club record for most points in a season, surpassing Louis Koen’s 2001 mark of 157.
Malakai Fekitoa (Highlanders)
Unwanted by the Blues despite performing well for Auckland in last year’s ITM Cup, Fekitoa headed south to get his chance with the Highlanders.
The centre hasn’t looked back, producing a string of blockbusting performances that have not only helped his side storm into the playoffs race but have led him to win a maiden All Blacks jersey.
Fekitoa’s 2014 Super Rugby numbers are stunning — he’s made the most tackle busts (57) in the competition, the equal most linebreaks (12), the second most run metres (1149m) and is the Highlanders leading try-scorer after smashing his way over for six five-pointers.
He is also one of just two Highlanders players (alongside Ben Smith) to have played every minute of the season so far — a sure sign that he just does not let up.
Cornal Hendricks (Cheetahs)
A former sevens star for South Africa, Hendricks made the switch to Super Rugby with the Cheetahs this season.
Blessed with blistering pace the 26-year-old winger knows how to find the tryline, grabbing four five-pointers — including a beauty against the Blues — to be joint top of the Cheetahs charts and also leads the team for tackle busts (30).
Hendricks impressed enough to earn a call-up for the Springboks, and scored on his debut Test against Wales.
Sean McMahon (Rebels)
Another sevens convert, McMahon has made every post a winner since moving to Melbourne to chase his dream in 15s rugby.
A workhorse flanker, the 19-year-old has made the equal second most pilfers (3), and third most forced penalties (2) by a Rebels player this season.
He also captained Australia at the IRB Junior World Championship, and has been named in the sevens squad for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Nemani Nadolo (Crusaders)
Labelled “the one who got away”, Brisbane boy Nemani Nadolo made his long-awaited Super Rugby debut after false starts at the Reds, Waratahs and Force.
But it was with New Zealand’s Crusaders that the Fijian-born flyer finally kickstarted his career and he has made up for lost time with some barnstorming games for the seven-time champions.
Nadolo has scored seven five-pointers in 10 matches, including one of just four Super Rugby hat-tricks in 2014, to be equal second on the try-scoring list. He also leads the competition for linebreaks, with 15.
Will Skelton (Waratahs)
Few have made the impact on Super Rugby this year that Skelton’s 141kg frame has. At just 22 yrs of age he’s already the largest top level rugby player in the world.
In his first year of professional rugby, he has gone from exciting young prospect to Wallabies starting lock in less than five months.
A force all over the field, immense in the scrum and a powerhouse at the breakdown. This hard running, big hitting lock has some big things expected of him in the years to come.
Handre Pollard (BULLS)
The young gun has started just a couple of Super Rugby games in 2014 but has already left a big impression on world rugby.
After a string of substitute performances Pollard worked his way into the Bulls first XV, booting 30 points in his two starts before leaving to spearhead South Africa’s IRB Junior World Championship campaign.
He guided his side to the final, which they lost to South Africa, and was later named 2014 Young Player of the Year.
The 20-year-old then capped an incredible couple of weeks by being named at flyhalf for the Springboks’ Test against Scotland, kicking 13 points in the 55-6 victory in Port Elizabeth.
Patrick Tuipulotu (BLUES)
The young lock has been a revelation for the Blues in 2014, and has the equal second most lineout steals (6) in the competition.
The numbers don’t quite do the 1.98m, 120kg giant justice, but his aerial skills — see the try he helped set up for Blues winger Tevita Li, another rising star — and bruising ball-carrying was enough to earn a call-up to the All Blacks squad for the three-Test series against England.
Tevita Li (BLUES)
Speaking of Li, we should probably give the winger a shout too after some magic moments for the Blues in his debut season.
His try against the Crusaders — when he bumped off three tacklers including no less than All Blacks captain Richie McCaw — was an absolute ripper and suggests big things lie ahead for the 19-year-old.
Who is your break out player of the year?
Vote now, it’s simple, thumbs up if you think they’ve performed, thumbs down if you think they haven’t.
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