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With England on a 15-game unbeaten run, Ireland dismantling the All Blacks in Chicago last, and Scotland on an upward trend, this year’s tournament is more competitive than ever. We’ll be looking at the stats each week to identify some of the top performers.
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Attack
Meters Made (Total)
Stuart Hogg (104) was Scotland’s best attacking threat – scoring two tries and cementing his place on the Lions tour come June, in case there was any doubt.
Despite Hogg’s exceptional performance, Frenchmen Virimi Vakatawa (121) and Scott Spedding (116) racked up the highest meters gained with the ball in hand. 60-meter-try man George North (108) was in third place. Full-backs Rob Kearney (105) and Mike Brown (104) were close behind with Leigh Halfpenny (56) making the least meters of any full-back this weekend, yet surprisingly winning the MOTM award in Rome.
Clean Breaks
Irish fly-half Paddy Jackson (4), standing in for the injured Sexton, broke the line the most of any player this weekend, and scored a brilliant try in the process. The pre-match pundits backed him to shine and despite the result, he certainly showed why Joe Schmidt had every confidence in him. Sexton will regain the jersey once fit, but an able understudy is emerging.
Elliot Daly (3) broke the French defence more than any other man in white, whilst Nakaitaci (3) and Liam Williams (3) did so for their respective nations. Stuart Hogg (2) was Scotland’s brightest spark when it came to clean breaks.
Defenders Beaten
The space a full-back is blessed with as they attack from deep hands them the best platform to beat the first man. Rob Kearney (7) led the way this week with team-mate Robbie Henshaw (6) also causing problems for Scotland. Paddy Jackson (5) again features whilst Mike Brown (3) and Jonny May (3) evaded the most Frenchmen. Scott Spedding (5) and Vakatawa (4) were the best runners for the French
Jonathan Davies (5) had a fantastic game for Wales at centre, scoring the men in red’s first try and assisting in Liam Williams’ score later in the game. Italian Venditti (3) beat the most Welsh defenders, whilst Stuart Hogg (3) yet again featured on top for the Scottish.
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Defence
Tackles Missed
The main defensive headline this week was that Welshman Justin Tipuric (4) , who famously hasn’t missed a tackle since last year’s competition, missed the most out of anyone for his country. In fairness to Tipuric, one or two were from kick chases, but one did allow a strong line break from the Italians. Scotland’s Dunbar (5) was the only player to miss more this weekend, but was closely followed by team-mates Finn Russell (4) and Huw Jones (4). Contrary to the score-line, only one Irishman missed more than a single tackle- that player being Keith Earls (2).
Howler of the weekend perhaps came from Italian full-back Padovani (3) who didn’t make a single tackle, whilst at Twickenham, captains Dylan Hartley (4) and Guilhem Guirado (3) dropped off the most tackles for their respective teams.
Tackles Made
This is perhaps where the game was won at Murrayfield. Brothers Jonny Gray (27) and Richie Gray (23) made an incredible fifty tackles between them, whilst Richie missed none and Jonny missed two. Ross Ford (19), Hamish Watson (19) were also amongst twelve Scotland players to make 10 tackles or more at the weekend.
Irish centre Garry Ringrose (13), who Keith Wood refused to brand as the new Brian O’Driscoll on Saturday, had a fine game in defence making the most tackles of any Irish back and missing only one. Captain Rory Best (17) made the most for Ireland and he missed none, and Devin Toner (15) had a good shift bunking down at second row. Ireland’s defensive effort saw six players make more than 10 tackles.
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England nearly faced an upset as France came out swinging and took the game to the wire. Launchbury (15), Wood (15) and Itoje (15) were the red rose’s top tacklers, whilst Gourdon (15) had the highest tackle count for les bleus.
Player of the Week
Stuart Hogg – Lived up to the pre-game hype that surrounded his name, and delivered two tries and a solid attacking display.
Comments on RugbyPass
It couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
25 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
13 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
25 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
13 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
77 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
1 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
13 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
13 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
13 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
13 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
13 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
44 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to comments