SA stars dominate URC stats
STAT ATTACK: For a third year in a row, South African players have shown the value they add to the United Rugby Championship competition.
The Stormers and Bulls have made the play-off phase every season, with the former being crowned the inaugural URC champs in 2022 and hosting the Final at Cape Town Stadium in 2023.
And while the Capetonians may not host a quarterfinal this season; the Sharks and Lions will not feature in the play-offs, their players along with compatriots Bulls are still topping the charts when it comes to individual player stats.
After 18 rounds of the URC regular league matches, the Sharks finished 14th on the table. However, Aphelele Fassi’s stunning season did not go unnoticed, claiming the franchise’s Player of the Year.
The 26-year-old leads the charts for the most line-breaks with 24. He also tops the metres gain stat with a massive 1230 metres.
In terms of the carries stat, the Sharks speedster is second, posting a 191. Equally as impressive is Stormers star Evan Roos who is third with 183 carries.
Roos is also in the top two for defenders beaten with 49, while South African-born wing Duhan van der Merwe leads the way with 61.
Stormers utility back Warrick Gelant heads the stat for the most offloads. The Stormers star made 34 offloads, followed by the Bulls’ Cameron Hanekom (22) and Zebre’s Geronimo Prosciantelli (22) while Springbok RG Snyman (20) comes in fifth.
South Africans also feature heavily in the try assist stat. Bulls star Embrose Papiers leads the way with 10 try assists followed by Lions scrumhalf Morne van den Berg at nine.
Former Pumas flyhalf Tinus de Beer and Bulls back David Kriel share the third spot with eight. Gelant (seven) and Sanela Nohamba (seven) also feature on the chart.
In terms of defence Stormers lock Ruben van Heerden stands out above the rest. The 26-year-old is at the summit of the tackle chart with 225 tackles made.
The second row also shares the top spot with Franke Horn for line-out won with 79. Bulls captain Ruan Nortje is third with 75 while South African-born Eli Snyman is fourth with 63.
Van Heerden is second regarding line-out steals with eight, while Ruan Vermaak is fifth with seven.
In terms of points scoring the South Africans might not top the categories but they feature in the top 10.
Ben Healy from Edinburgh is No.1 for the overall point scorers log with 175 followed by Johan Goosen (126) in second, De Beer (118) and Sanele Nohamba (117). Manie Libbok also made the cut, coming in sixth with 111 points.
Akker van der Merwe’s brace of tries against the Sharks in Durban last weekend took him second on the try-scoring log. The hooker has 12 tries just two away from Glasgow’s Johnny Matthews who is first with 14 tries.
David Kriel is third with 10 tries and further down Werner Kok (nine), Canan Moodie (nine), Johan Grobbelaar (eight) and Evan Roos (eight) make up the top 10.
Bulls flyhalf Chris Smith posts the best kick-at-goal stat with 90 percent. He made 18 conversions from 21 attempts and nine out of nine for penalty kicks.
*Stats provided by URC
