Boks soar in RWC stats

The Boks did not only bounce back from their shock 34-32 defeat to Japan but the individual players also made it into the top rankings in some of the categories on the Vodacom Rugby App.

Springbok flyer JP Pietersen’s hat-trick of tries highlights South Africa’s performance over the weekend while he also made it into the top-five in the Points category with the 15 behind his name.

Welsh hero Dan Biggar tops the points tally for the second round with the 23 points he contributed in his side’s comeback victory over hosts England.

He landed seven penalty conversions, a try-conversion and became an internet sensation with his pre-kick routine which was dubbed ‘the Biggarena’ after the Macarena.

South African flyhalf Handre Pollard ranked third in the Penalty Goals category with the four he slotted in the Boks’ victory.

Springbok wing Bryan Habana also cracked the higher rankings in terms of Metres Run and Clean Breaks.

Tonga’s Telusa Veainu was valuable in his side’s victory over Namibia running a total of 193 metres in their match to top the Metres Run category.

Habana made the fourth most metres with 125m while he shared fourth place in terms of Clean Breaks with Pietersen among others with three apiece.

Making his debut at the Rugby World Cup, Springbok centre Damian de Allende was useful on attack beating seven defenders, while Australia’s Drew Mitchell topped the category with 11.

Springbok stalwart Schalk Burger continues to make an impact for South Africa and again made an impact with his strong carries.

He made a total of 15 Carries against Samoa which was the third most in the second round, while Japan’s Michael Leitch made the most with 21.
 
Rugby World Cup – Second-round Statistics:
 
Points:
 
1.     Dan Biggar (Wales) – 23
2.     Owen Farrell (England) – 20
3.     Beauden Barrett (New Zealand) – 16
4.     JP Pietersen (South Africa) – 15
        Nicolas Sanchez (Argentina) – 15
5.     Ian Madigan (Ireland) – 14
        Handre Pollard (South Africa) – 14
  
Penalty goals:
 
1.     Dan Biggar (Wales) – 7
2.     Owen Farrell (England) – 5
3.     Handre Pollard (South Africa) – 4
4.     Merab Kvirikashvili (Georgia) – 3
        Tommaso Allan (Italy) – 3
        AJ MacGinty (United States) – 3
 
Metres run:
 
1.     Telusa Veainu (Tonga) – 193
2.     Santiago Cordero (Argentina) – 152
3.     Drew Mitchell (Australia) – 141
4.     Bryan Habana (South Africa) – 125
5.     Brice Dulin (France) – 119
 
Clean breaks:
 
1.     Nehe Milner Skudder (New Zealand) – 5
2.     Telusa Veainu (Tonga) – 4
3.     Drew Mitchell (Australia) – 4
4.     Anthony Watson (England) – 3
        Jonny May (England) – 3
        Bryan Habana (South Africa) – 3
        JP Pietersen (South Africa) – 3
 
Carries:
 
1.     Michael Leitch (Japan) – 21
2.     Carian Hearn (Canada) – 16
        Drew Mitchell (Australia) – 16
        Samu Manoa (United States) – 16
3.     Vunga Lilo (Tonga) – 15
        Keith Earls (Ireland) – 15
        Chris Henry (Ireland) – 15
        Simon Zebo (Ireland) – 15
        Schalk Burger (South Africa) – 15
        Joshua Strauss (Scotland) – 15
 
Defenders beaten:
 
1.     Drew Mitchell (Australia) – 11
2.     David Kacharava (Georgia) – 9
3.     Santiago Cordero (Argentina) – 8
        Nehe Milner Skudder (New Zealand) – 8
4.     Telusa Veainu (Tonga) – 7
        Damian de Allende (South Africa)