The amount of times George Ford kicked the ball from hand and other outrageous Premiership Opta stats
The Premiership regular season came to an end on Saturday, meaning just four clubs are left in the running to win the title.
Defending champions Exeter Chiefs finished top of the table, giving them home advantage in their semi-final against Newcastle Falcons. In the other tie to decide who will be at Twickenham on May 26, Saracens will welcome Wasps to Allianz Park.
London Irish, meanwhile, suffered relegation, though they will hope their time outside the top flight proves to be brief.
As the dust settles after 22 rounds of action, we’ve picked out some of the notable performers – and remarkable numbers – with the aid of Opta.
https://twitter.com/premrugby/status/993022571754016768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>May 6, 2018
KEEP ON RUNNING
Alex Goode made more ground than any other player in the Premiership. The England international gained 1,808 metres in total, comfortably ahead of nearest rival Olly Woodburn of Exeter as, unsurprisingly, backs dominated the category.
Wasps had three players finish inside the top 10, Willie Le Roux their leading man with 1,110 metres, just nine ahead of club colleague Christian Wade.
South African full-back Le Roux was the Premiership’s assist king too, setting up 21 tries for a team that made more clean breaks (276) than any of their rivals.
However, Sarries were comfortably the top scorers in the English game. They finished with a whopping 731 points – 113 more than Exeter – and ran in 89 tries, their final tallies boosted by a sensational run-in that saw them amass 217 points in April alone following their European Champions Cup semi-final defeat to Leinster.
Continue reading below…
SET-PIECE SPECIALISTS
Exeter lock Jonny Hill was the only player over the season to reach three figures in terms of line-outs won, finishing with 103. Fellow Chief Don Armand also had 80, putting him sixth on the list.
Saracens were the other team to have two representatives in the top 10; Nick Isiekwe (86) was their best performer, though George Kruis’ final total of 59 was impressive considering he made just 14 Premiership appearances.
The duo’s efforts helped the capital club finish with a 92.9 per cent line-out success rate, the best by any club during 2017-18. Newcastle were the masters of the scrum though, the Falcons posting an astonishing 96.7 per cent success rate.
CASE FOR THE DEFENCE
It is not just about what you do when in possession of the ball. Defensive experts may not draw in the crowds like those who score tries or kick for goal, but they play a pivotal part in deciding their team’s fortunes over the course of a gruelling campaign.
This season, no player made more tackles than Sale’s Jono Ross (336). The experienced back-rower, signed in April 2017, impressed in his debut season with his willingness to do the dirty work. Fellow Shark Ross Harrison was one of only three players to top the 300-mark, the other being Lewis Ludlow of Gloucester.
Northampton Saints flanker Jamie Gibson managed 251 tackles and was also a master at stealing possession, finishing in a tie for top spot in turnovers won. His tally of 19 was matched by Dave Ward of Harlequins.
FORD PUTS THE BOOT IN
England star George Ford finished top of the charts when it came to kicks in open play, booting the ball 239 times during his 16 league outings for Leicester Tigers.
No other player managed to break the 200-barrier, Marcus Smith of Quins the next on the list with 194.
Exeter used their kicking game to good effect – Nic White (186) and Gareth Steenson (170) both featured in the top 10 – yet no team had the ball more than the Chiefs. Their average time in possession was 23 minutes and 31 seconds, nearly four minutes more than second-placed Gloucester.
Rob Baxter’s side also had more carries (3,605) and made more metres (11,147) than any of their competitors, underlying just why they ended up on top of the pile.
Comments on RugbyPass
This is short sighted from Clayton if you ask me, smacks of too much preseason planning and no adaptability. What if DMac is out for a must win match, are they still only going to bring their best first five and playmaker on late in the game? Trusting the game to someone who wasn’t even part of planning (they would have had Trask pinned in as Jacomb preseason). Perhaps if the Crusaders were better they would not have done this, but either way imo you take this opportunity to play a guy you might need starting in a final rather than having their 12th game getting comfortable coming off the bench.
1 Go to commentsThanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.
21 Go to commentsWhat a load of bollocks. The author has forgotten to mention the fact that the Crusaders have a huge injury toll with top world class players out. Not to mention the fact that they are obviously in a transition period. No this will not spark a slow death for NZ rugby, but it does mean there will be a new Super Rugby champion. Anyone who knows anything about NZ rugby knows that there is some serious talent here, it just isn’t all at the Crusaders.
2 Go to commentsI wouldn’t spend the time on Nawaqanitawase! No point in having him filling in a jersey when he’s committed to leave Union. Give the jersey to a young prospect who will be here in the future.
4 Go to commentsIt was a pleasure to watch those guys playing with such confidence. That trio can all be infuriating for different reasons and I can see why Jones might have decided against them. No way to justify leaving Ikitau out though. Jorgensen and him were both scheduled to return at the same time. Only one of them plays for Randwick and has a dad who is great mates with the national coach though.
53 Go to commentsBrayden Iose and Peter Lakai are very exciting Super Rugby players but are too short and too light to ever be a Test 8 vs South Africa, France, Ireland, and England, Lakai could potentially be a Test player at 7 if he is allowed to focus on 7 for Hurricanes.
7 Go to commentsPencils “Thomas du Toit” into possible 2027 Bok squad.
1 Go to commentsDon’t see why Harrison makes the bench. Jones can play at 10 if needed, and there is a good case for starting her there to begin with if testing combinations. That would leave room for Sing on the bench
1 Go to commentsWhat a load of old bull!
1 Go to commentsOf the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.
29 Go to commentsIrish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
5 Go to commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
5 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to comments