Five takeaways from the opening weekend of the 2018 Super Rugby competition.
South Africa's lock stocks are healthy
The Springboks' three premier locks were not in action this weekend, but there was still more than enough talent on show during the opening Super Rugby weekend.
JD Schickerling, who only a few years ago broke his neck and was told that he would never play rugby again, was immense for the Stormers in the absence of Eben Etzebeth and Pieter-Steph du Toit and was awarded with the Man of the Match against the Jaguares.
In the derby between the Sharks and Lions, the Durban team's captain Ruan Botha put his opposite numbers under a lot of pressure in the lineouts, while Franco Mostert was again his busy self for the home side. Next week Lood de Jager and RG Snyman will also be back in action when the Bulls start their campaign.
The Lions are still the SA team to beat
The Lions hardly got out of third gear in their Super Rugby opener against the Sharks, but still had enough firepower to beat the Durban side in a thriller in Johannesburg.
Last year's finalists only played one warm-up match leading into the competition, and they were definitely rusty in a few aspects of the game, especially the lineouts.
Their game-breakers played a massive part in that victory, but once the Lions get going they are going to hard to stop. The Sharks were good value, and have been tipped to do well this season, but the Lions showed championship composure to hold on for the win.
Aphiwe Dyantyi shows the good and the bad of SA rugby
When Aphiwe Dyantyi was at school he was told he was too small to play for the first team. He ended up with the seconds and the thirds, but luckily he rediscovered his love for the game at university.
Now the Varsity Cup product is showing that rugby is for all shapes and sizes following a top Super Rugby debut for the Lions on Saturday. The speedster has already scored a contender for try of the season after he beat the Sharks players with his speed, before dropping the ball on his toe and collecting to score.
South African coaches would rather pick a big player with no skill over a skilful with smaller calves. How many careers have they already killed?
The scrum is still a big part of the game
The first two matches of this year's competition showed just how important a dominant scrum is, even though the scrumhalf is now allowed to feed it while facing his own posts.
The Stormers were dominant in the first half of their match against the Jaguares, with Wilco Louw and Steven Kitshoff setting the platform for their pack and backs to play off the front foot.
The Lions' scrum laid the same platform, and put the Sharks under a lot of pressure on their own ball. A good scrum can lead to penalties, and penalties can lead to good field position. Good field position can lead to points.
Robert du Preez is worth a try at inside centre
Robert du Preez will be more than satisfied with his Sharks debut, which also saw him scoring a try while running over his opposite number, Lions flyhalf Elton Jantjies.
Du Preez is a big, powerful customer, but who also possesses some lovely touches and a big boot. His decision-making is crisp and he has really improved as player over the last few years.
But with South Africa having a quite lot of flyhalves coming through, and no real genuine playmakers at inside centre, why not give him a shot. Especially also because the talented Curwin Bosch will also see more game time at No 10 with Du Preez next to him.