Tough week for South African franchises

South African franchises experienced a tough weekend in the eighth round of the 2014 Vodacom SupeRugby competition, which was also reflected in the rankings on the Vodacom Rugby Stats App.

The match between the Toyota Cheetahs and the Chiefs produced somewhat of a humdinger of a match with 10 tries being scored. The 43-43 draw was also the best result from a South African point of view with the Vodacom Bulls, Lions and the DHL Stormers losing their matches against the Hurricanes, Crusaders and Waratahs respectively.

Statistics taken from the Vodacom Rugby Stats App, one of the most comprehensive rugby stats in the world, show South African players only dominated three of the categories over the past weekend.

Cheetahs flyhalf Johan Goosen was the leading points-scorer in Round 8, contributing 23 points to their score with four conversions and five penalty conversions.

Behind him is Hurricanes flyhalf Beauden Barrett and Jason Woodward of the Rebels on 20 points apiece, and are followed by the Highlanders’ Lima Sopoaga (18 points) and Sias Ebersohn of the Force with 15 points. His five penalty conversions are the second most for the weekend behind Barrett on six with Sopoaga, Mike Harris of the Res and Ebersohn all tied on four each.

This weekend saw five players score a brace of tries apiece for their respective teams with Cheetahs scrumhalf Sarel Pretorius among them. Three of the players on the list are from the Chiefs with Asaeli Tikoirotuma, Augustine Pulu and Tim Nanai-Williams crossing the whitewash twice along with the Brumbies’ Pat McCabe.

South African teams continue to dominate the tackling area with Bulls captain Flip van der Merwe making 22 tackles in his side’s match against the Hurricanes to lead the category.

The Reds’ Beau Robinson (18) made the second most, while he is followed by Bulls team-mates Jacques du Plessis and JJ Engelbrecht with 16 tackles and Kyle Godwin of the Force making 15.

The Lineouts won on own through category is also dominated by South African players with Michael Rhodes of the Stormers leading with nine.  In second place is the Chiefs’ Brodie Retallick with seven, while Van der Merwe and Lions captain Warren Whiteley taking six apiece with Hayden Triggs of the Blues taking five balls.

Know your rugby and go to vodacom.co.za/rugby to download the Vodacom Rugby Stats App and follow the SuperGees at @vodacomrugga.

Round-8 Stats:

Points:

1. Johan Goosen (Cheetahs) – 23

2. Beauden Barrett (Hurricanes) – 20

3. Jason Woodward (Rebels) – 20

4. Lima Sopoaga (Highlanders) – 18

5. Sias Ebersohn (Force) – 15

Tries:

1. Asaeli Tikoirotuma (Chiefs) – 2

2. Augustine Pulu (Chiefs) – 2

3. Pat McCabe (Brumbies) – 2

4. Sarel Pretorius (Cheetahs) – 2

5. Tim Nanai-Williams – 2

Penalty goals:

1. Beauden Barrett (Hurricanes) – 6

2. Johan Goosen (Cheetahs) – 5

3. Lima Sopoaga (Highlanders) – 4

4. Mike Harris (Reds) – 4

5. Sias Ebersohn (Force) – 4

Conversions:

1. Aaron Cruden (Chiefs) – 5

2. Johan Goosen (Cheetahs) – 4

3. Jason Woodward (Rebels) – 3

4. Lima Sopoaga (Highlanders) – 3

5. Quade Cooper (Reds) – 2

Tackles:

1.  Flip van der Merwe (Bulls) – 22

2.  Beau Robinson (Reds) – 18

3. Jacques du Plessis (Bulls) – 16

4. JJ Engelbrecth (Bulls) – 16

5.  Kyle Godwin (Force) – 15

Lineouts won on own throw:

1. Michael Rhodes (Stormers) – 9

2.  Brodie Retallick (Chiefs) – 7

3. Flip van der Merwe (Bulls) – 6

4. Warren Whiteley (Lions) – 6

5. Hayden Triggs (Blues) – 5

Overall stats after Round 8:

Points:

1. Marnitz Boshoff (Lions) – 109

2. Beauden Barrett (Hurricanes) – 103

3. Lima Sopoaga (Highlanders) – 92

4. Johan Goosen (Cheetahs) – 85

5. Quade Cooper (Reds) – 84

Drop goals:

1. Marnitz Boshoff 6

2. Jacques-Louis Potgieter 3

3. Angus Roberts 1

4. Johan Goosen 1

5. Louis Fouche 1

6. Quade Cooper 1

Metres run:

1. Willie le Roux 548m

2. Julian Savea 546m

3. Jesse Mogg 521m

4. Ben Smith 471m

5. Charles Piutau 434m

Tackles:

1. Phillip van der Walt 89

2. Matt Hodgson 87

3. Shane Christie 85

4. Lappies Labuschagne 84

5. Jacques du Plessis 82

Turnovers won:

1. Adriaan Strauss 11

2. Jack Lam 11

3. Matt Hodgson 10

4.Marcell Coetzee 9

5. Michael Hooper 9

Loose ball collected:

1. Jurgen Visser 27

2. Jesse Mogg 23

3. Willie le Roux 22

4. Francois Hougaard 21

5. Will Genia 21