Cape Town - SANZAAR on Tuesday named the official Super Rugby Team of the Season - with four South Africans cracking the nod.
The South African quartet all feature up front and include Stormers prop Steven Kitshoff, Lions hooker Malcolm Marx, Bulls lock Lood de Jager and Sharks flank Jean-Luc du Preez.
It's a somewhat bizarre team, given the fact that the tournament winners, the Crusaders, only have one representative in wing George Bridge.
The Chiefs, who lost in the quarter-finals, are the only team to have more than one player - with four - in the team, with the Blues, Hurricanes, Waratahs, Reds, Sunwolves and Jaguares also having one each.
SANZAAR said on its official website that the team is “based on a comprehensive statistical index that monitors in detail every action of every match”.
Chiefs flyhalf Damian McKenzie was named Player of the Season.
"McKenzie's statistics are pretty impressive and earned him the flyhalf spot in the Team of the Year; including beating 74 defenders and amassing 177 points during the season," SANZAAR added.
SANZAAR’s Super Rugby Team of the Season:
15 Israel Folau (Waratahs), 14 Solomon Alaimalo (Chiefs), 13 Anton Lienert-Brown (Chiefs), 12 Michael Little (Sunwolves), 11 George Bridge (Crusaders), 10 Damian McKenzie (Chiefs), 9 TJ Perenara (Hurricanes), 8 Akira Ioane (Blues), 7 Jean-Luc du Preez (Sharks), 6 Pablo Matera (Jaguares), 5 Lood de Jager (Bulls), 4 Brodie Retallick (Chiefs), 3 Taniela Tupou (Reds), 2 Malcolm Marx (Lions), 1 Steven Kitshoff (Stormers)
Team of the Year #SuperRugby
— Super Rugby (@SuperRugby) August 7, 2018
Has players from 12 of the teams and like the regular season is based on comprehensive statistics that monitor in detail every action of every match. Player of the year is @ChiefsRugby play-maker Damian McKenzie
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