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Cape Town - Only three rounds of Super Rugby 2017 have been completed and it is far too early to read too much into statistics, but they do make good reading from a South African perspective at the moment.
That could also be helped by the fact that no South African team has faced New Zealand opposition yet.
Either way, a look at the numbers on the Sanzar website suggests that the South African teams are getting a few things right.
The Hurricanes lead the way in terms of most tries scored with 26, followed the Stormers and the Lions with 15 tries each.
But it is in the individual stats where certain South Africans are putting their hands up.
Cheetahs flyhalf Fred Zeilinga is the leading points scorer in the competition so far with 52 points, followed somewhat surprisingly by Kings playmaker Lionel Cronje with 38. Ihaia West (Blues) also has 38, while Sharks youngster Curwin Bosch has rocketed up the list with all 27 of his points coming from his substitute performance against the Waratahs in Durban on Saturday.
Lions centre Rohan Janse van Rensburg leads the way on the top try scorers chart with 4 so far, sharing top spot with Vince Aso (Hurricanes) and Eto Nabuli (Reds).
There are 4 South Africans in the top 5 in terms of most tackles made, and 3 of them are Sharks.
Unsurprisingly, Jean-Luc du Preez has made more tackles than anybody else with 47. He is followed by Sam Carter (Brumbies) with 45 while the Sharks duo of Philip van der Walt and Andre Esterhuizen have 42 and 39 tackles, respectively. Cheetahs hooker Torsten van Jaarsveld has 37.
But it is in the 'metres made' category where a South African is making serious waves.
Stormers fullback SP Marais has made 416 metres in 2017 while the next best is Hurricanes centre Ngani Laumape with 285. Aso has made 284 metres while the next best South African after Marais is Cheetahs wing Raymond Rhule with 251.
*The Bulls have only played 2 matches this season while all of the other South African sides have played 3
