North-South Stats that will worry Stormers
STATS ATTACK: The Stormers will have to keep a close eye on Bulls duo Elrich Louw and Ruan Nortje based on the United Rugby Championship’s latest stats piece.
Ahead of the highly-anticipated North-South derby between the Bulls and Stormers, the URC released some eyebrow-raising stats regarding the duo.
According to the URC, Elrich Louw made more metres in contact than any other player this season (150).
He made 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 percent.
Louw and Mr Consistent Ruan Nortje will be very difficult to overhaul on Saturday.
Nortje has played more minutes than any other player in the league (1,030), missing just 10 minutes of 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.
Stormers bounced back from a 5-35 Round 13 thumping at the hands of Ulster by winning 46-19 away to the Sharks in a rearranged fixture at the beginning of the month.
They ran in six tries in Durban, including one from flyhalf Manie Libbok who claimed a 21-point match haul to strengthen his position as the league’s top scorer (121).
The 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.
