We take a look at all the eye-popping statistics from the latest round of Vodacom United Rugby Championship matches.
THE LOUW-DOWN
It’s safe to say Vodacom Bulls No 8 Elrigh Louw is a hard man to stop. He has made more metres in contact than any other player this season (150) and the third-most successful carries overall (64), crossing the gain-line no fewer than 11 times - joint top - in Round 13 for a success rate of 68.75 per cent. So, good luck to the DHL Stormers in trying to haul him down in Pretoria on Saturday afternoon.
Alongside him in the Vodacom Bulls pack is Mr Consistent Ruan Nortje, with the second row having played more minutes than any other player in the league (1 030), missing just 10 minutes of Vodacom URC rugby so far this season. The 24-year-old Nortje has also made more clearouts than any other player (67), lies fifth on the tackle chart (122) and is a prolific source of lineout ball.
DHL Stormers bounced back from a 35-5 Round 13 thumping at the hands of Ulster by winning 46-19 away to the Cell C Sharks in a rearranged fixture at the beginning of the month.
They ran in six tries in Durban, including one from fly-half Manie Libbok who claimed a 21-point match haul to strengthen his position as the league’s top scorer (121).
The Vodacom Bulls have lost their last four league matches against the Stormers, three of which have been in Cape Town. But now they are on home soil where they haven’t been beaten since February 2022.
HOW TO STOP SEBASTIAN?
There is no more effective attacker in the Vodacom URC than Glasgow Warriors Sebastian Cancelliere and Ulster will be well aware of the threat he poses as they head into Friday night’s top-five battle at Scotstoun.
The Argentine wing has beaten the most defenders in the league (30), made the most clean breaks (18) and is second only to the Scarlets’ Johnny McNicholl for metres run (654), while he has snapped up seven tries.
Glasgow are unbeaten in their last nine matches in all competitions and are the most efficient team in the league when it comes to their work in the opposition red zone, earning a penalty or scoring a try from 63 per cent of their 22 entries.
So Ulster coach Dan McFarland is well aware of the challenge posed by Franco Smith’s red-hot side.
“They play a very exciting brand of rugby and are extremely dangerous. They play from deep and move the ball across the park,” he said.
“They have more wide passes that any other team in the league by some distance and they have the runners to eat up the ground.
“They’ll definitely come into this game as favourites off the back of the run of wins they’ve had. It’s all up for grabs.”
PICK AND GO PATTERSON
The Ospreys will need to watch out for livewire Munster scrum-half Paddy Patterson at Thomond Park on Friday evening.
The former Leinster No 9 has made as many ‘pick-and-gos’ as any other player (25), gaining 123 metres from his snipes. He also showed his predatory instinct by scoring one of his team’s six tries in their 40-30 victory away to Benetton last time out.
The Ospreys, who welcome back Wales centre Owen Watkin from knee surgery, head for Limerick having won six of their last seven matches in all competitions.
“The boys are in good fettle,” said Booth. “We know going to Munster is a very tough thing to do, but we have been into Ireland on a Friday night before and done ok, so we will see how we go.”
The Welsh visitors are captained by in-form prop Nicky Smith, while international winger Simon Zebo makes his first appearance since December for Munster.
SAVOURING SIONE
Scarlets fans will be looking to savour every remaining minute of Sione Kalamafoni’s time with the club before he leaves for France at the end of the season.
The Tongan international No 8 has proved a fantastic acquisition since arriving from Leicester in 2020 and will again be a go-to man at home to Edinburgh on Saturday evening.
He has made more carries (162) and more successful carries (80) than any other player in the league this season, while he’s joint third in terms of tackles made (132).
Behind the scrum, it’s back three-man Johnny McNicholl who has been the Scarlets’ star performer in terms of stats, making more metres (765), offloads (17) and cover tackles (7) than any other player in the 16-team competition.
As for Edinburgh Rugby, they have beaten the most defenders (249), with their centres particularly impressive, Mark Bennett leading the way. However, they have conceded a league-high 12 penalties at the lineout, five of which have been for obstruction, so they will want to tighten up there against a Scarlets side that have won seven of their last eight matches in all competitions, including a notable 37-28 victory over the Vodacom Bulls in Round 13.