1
Cordero's frankly silly attacking stats stood out in Round 2
Another busy weekend of Gallagher Premiership rugby is in the books and aside from a slightly drab encounter between Sale Sharks and Worcester Warriors on Sunday, it certainly lived up to all expectations.
ADVERTISEMENT
OPTA have released their weekly round-up of the top statistical performers in the competition and it’s fair to say that the free-flowing theme of the weekend has not hurt their numbers.
Gloucester’s Jason Woodward led the way in metres carried with 134m, followed closely by Simon Hammersley (112m), Santiago Cordero (111m), Alex Goode (104m), Henry Slade (103m) and Piers O’Conor (101m). The back-three players understandably excelled, but a special mention for Slade, who had one of the standout performances of the week from outside centre, where he tormented Wasps’ defence in the 13 channel.
Cordero wasn’t just making metres on Saturday, he was also making defenders miss, as he chalked up an extremely impressive 11 defenders beaten at the Ricoh Arena, whilst his five clean breaks also set the benchmark in that category.
A resurgent George Ford also stood out, leading the best of the rest with nine defenders beaten on the weekend, as thrived in Geordan Murphy’s Leicester side. Replacement Jake Polledri had a noteworthy eight defenders beaten, whilst Vereniki Goneva was next up with seven, who was also part of the same frenetic game at Welford Road as Ford was. Ahsee Tuala, Elliot Daly, Christian Wade, Nathan Hughes and Hammersley all chipped in with six apiece.
Continue reading below…
Ford again came second to Cordero in clean breaks with four, a spot he shared with Bath’s Semesa Rokoduguni. Chris Pennell, Matt Banahan, Adam Thompstone, Matt Gallagher, Alapati Leiua, Slade, Goode, Goneva and Hammersley were all next up with three clean breaks each.
ADVERTISEMENT
Hughes was the king of keeping phases alive with six offloads, closely followed by fellow Fijian Goneva, who had five. Zach Mercer, Sam Lewis, Harry Mallinder and Tuala rounded out the top six with three offloads each.
On the defensive side of the ball, no one could hold a candle to the work rate of Sale, where Jono Ross (31) and Ross Harrison (29) led the way in tackles, followed by equally familiar faces in these rankings in Lewis Ludlow (22) and Mark Wilson (21).
A pair of England internationals will be frustrated with their missed tackles, with Joe Launchbury and Ben Youngs leading the way with six this weekend. Dave Attwood, Sione Kalamafoni and Sam Simmonds will also be disappointed with their tallies of five missed tackles apiece.
Another week of high penalty counts saw Alex Waller, Jamie Gibson, Ben Harris and Michael Rhodes earn the ire of the referee’s whistle most frequently, with each player pinged three times.
ADVERTISEMENT
Comments on RugbyPass
Good luck Aussie
10 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
37 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
10 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
37 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
37 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
37 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
37 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. All the Kiwis sticking up for this unprincipled individual because they can't accept justified criticism, he has zero credibility or integrity. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
37 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
37 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
2 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to comments