WALES’ ILLUMINATING STATS FOR THE SEASON
THE Lions have dominated the headlines in recent weeks, but while Warren Gatland led his men to their draw in New Zealand, the players he normally coaches n the day job were actually finishing up their own season.
The summer tour matches against Samoa and Tonga ended a mixed campaign for the Wales side led in Gatland’s absence by Rob Howley, then Robin McBryde.
Three autumn wins followed a crushing 32-8 opening loss to Australia, there was a disappointing fifth-placed finish in the Six Nations, but an epic win over Ireland.
Then everything was rounded off by those June victories on their travels.
It’s easy to forget about Wales amid the hype surrounding the Lions. B
ut we’ve crunched the numbers to officially work out who were the best – and worst – performers during 201617. Who made the most tackles, who missed the most? Who made most yards, who carried the ball to the greatest effect?
By the way, only one player featured in every game. Nice little walking pub-quiz question for you there.
The answer to that one is at the end. In the meantime, MARK ORDERS goes through the statistics and finds outstanding performances piling up next to some not-soclever efforts...
MOST TRIES
WALES didn’t exactly overdo the fundamental of the game, namely to score tries.
Liam Williams finished at the head of affairs, chipping in with three in the Six Nations and one in the autumn series.
Two of George North’s touchdowns came in his personal tour de force against Ireland, while Jamie Roberts crossed the whitewash a couple of times, despite spending much of the campaign on the bench. Liam Williams 4 George North 3 Jamie Roberts 2 Eight players 1 Pen try 1
MOST POINTS SCORED
HALFPENNY continues to build his mountain of points with a further 111 amassed from nine appearances over the campaign.
Dan Biggar amassed not a solitary point during the season, with Halfpenny given first crack in front of goal.
Sam Davies had some target practice on Wales’ summer tour. Leigh Halfpenny 111 Sam Davies 24 Liam Williams 20
MOST CARRIES
LIONS lead the way in this section.
Jonathan Davies made 82 runs forward at an average of more than 10 a game, while Liam Williams wasn’t far behind with 79 carries from eight appearances.
The piledriving Ross Moriarty built on his promise from the summer of 2016 with a strong showing with ball in hand. Jonathan Davies 82 Liam Williams 79 Ross Moriarty 72 Alun Wyn Jones 64 Leigh Halfpenny 64 Scott Williams 61 George North 52 Dan Biggar 49 Justin Tipuric 49 Sam Warburton 49
MOST METRES MADE (BACKS)
ONE long run can make a world of difference here, but Liam Williams’ 455 metres were largely spread out, with the Saracens-bound back-three man covering 45 metres or more of ground in all but one of his eight appearances during the season.
A nod, too, for the hard-running Jonathan Davies.
Wales were felt to have made heavy weather of things behind the scrum in 2016-17, but Davies was one player who regularly made yardage.
George North was the only player to make more than 100 metres in two games during the campaign. Liam Williams 455 Jonathan Davies 454 George North 334 Leigh Halfpenny 333 Dan Biggar 207 Rhys Webb 186
MOST METRES MADE (FORWARDS)
LET’S hear it for the backrow brigade, as you would expect in this category.
Ross Moriarty finished top of the pile with his distinctive brand of route-one carrying. The Gloucester man’s indus-
try meant he kept putting up his hand for defencedenting missions.
Not far behind was the altogether different style of Justin Tipuric, a player who every now and then popped up with telling carries in places where forwards are not expected to be.
Operating at blindside flanker, Sam Warburton also had a strong campaign as a carrier, along with the hard-working Alun Wyn Jones.
There was notable effort from Nicky Smith, too, who put in close on 50 carries from the loose-head prop position. Some front rowers of days gone by might have been pushed to manage that many in their entire careers. Ross Moriarty 123 Justin Tipuric 112 Sam Warburton 103 Alun Wyn Jones 81 Scott Baldwin 52 Nicky Smith 49
MOST KICKS OUT OF HAND
THERE is not too much to be surprised about here.
Dan Biggar is Wales’s main game-controller and he has put boot to ball more than anyone else, with 30 of his kicks spread over two matches, against Argentina and South Africa. Dan Biggar 75 Sam Davies 43 Rhys Webb 31 Leigh Halfpenny 23 Gareth Anscombe 22 Gareth Davies 22
MOST PASSES (BACKS)
IT would be a surprise if this section were not dominated by half-backs, with Rhys Webb way out in front and Dan Biggar also showing a penchant for passing.
Webb averaged more than 70 passes a game, reaching a peak during his excellent personal display against Ireland when he flicked the ball out 87 times.
Rhys Webb 422 Dan Biggar 160 Gareth Davies 132 Lloyd Williams 72 Sam Davies 67 Aled Davies 57 Scott Williams 54
MOST PASSES (FORWARDS)
ONLY one winner here, and it says everything about the multi-skilled Justin Tipuric that the only players who passed more times than he did for Wales last season were half-backs.
Against Australia he threw out more passes than the two Welsh centres combined.
A nod, too, to Ross Moriarty and Alun Wyn Jones, both of whom made an effort to play with their heads up. Justin Tipuric 61 Ross Moriarty 37 Alun Wyn Jones 26 Scott Baldwin 18 Ken Owens 17 Sam Warburton 13 Rob Evans 11
MOST CLEAN BREAKS
LIAM Williams did as much as any Welsh back to excite the crowds with his brand of skill, trickery and wiry physicality. The man once dubbed “a Twiglet with the power of a tornado” continually troubled opposition defences and found a way through them more often than any other player.
Jonathan Davies was also a regular defencebuster, along with George North. Liam Williams 13 Jonathan Davies 10 George North 9 Leigh Halfpenny 6 Scott Williams 6 Rhys Webb 6 Dan Biggar 5 Alex Cuthbert 4
MOST DEFENDERS BEATEN
GEORGE North had two woeful matches, against Australia and Scotland, when all what could go wrong for him pretty much did, but he also came up with a remarkable effort under lights against Ireland.
He beat eight defenders in that game and was at his very best.
The big challenge for Warren Gatland and Rob Howley in 2017-18 will be to reintroduce the big man to the concept of consistency.
His 19 defenders beaten tally was nonetheless a noteworthy effort.
Applause, too, for Nicky Smith, who left nine opponents clutching thin air with his distinctive brand of spinning quickly out of contact, fast feet to the fore. George North 19 Jonathan Davies 17 Liam Williams 17 Leigh Halfenny 13 Dan Biggar 10 Gareth Davies 9 Nicky Smith 9
MOST OFFLOADS
No massive figures for offloads, but Jonathan Davies and Alun Wyn Jones were the players who most wanted to keep play alive by shipping the ball out of the tackle.
Jones made seven possession transfers this way, a figure which dwarfed the efforts of those backs who don’t feature on the chart below. Alun Wyn Jones 7 Liam Williams 5 Rhys Webb 5 Gareth Davies 4 Dan Biggar 4 George North 4 Justin Tipuric 4
MOST TACKLES
A STAND-OUT performance here from the human barricade that is Justin Tipuric.
His 115 completed tackles sat alongside just four misses, all of which came in the one game, against Italy. Other than that the Osprey was faultless in defence.
Ross Moriarty also showed the right attitude in defensive duties, while Ken Owens finished his Wales season with 61 tackles over four games, a remarkable effort. Justin Tipuric 115 Ross Moriarty 113 Ken Owens 91 Sam Warburton 90 Alun Wyn Jones 75 Dan Biggar 74 Scott Williams 73 Luke Charteris 60 Tomas Francis 60 Nicky Smith 57
MOST MISSED TACKLES
LOOK away anyone whose name features below.
Dan Biggar actually put in 74 successful hits and frequently had giant centres running at him, so perhaps his 13 misses is understable.
Even so, he will want to improve on it for next term.
Ross Moriarty and Liam Williams also have scope to tighten up. Dan Biggar 13 Ross Moriarty 12 Liam Williams 11 Jonathan Davies 9 Alun Wyn Jones 9 George North 9 Scott Williams 9 Jamie Roberts 8 Rhys Webb 8 And finally ....
THE ONE MAN WHO DIDN’T MISS A SINGLE GAME
THAT would be Nicky Smith, the Ospreys prop who featured at some point in each of Wales’ 11 matches.