Stats the way... how numbers add up to tell us who are the best Wales players of 2018
THE street artist Banksy once claimed that a survey of North American males found 42 percent were overweight, 34 were critically obese and 8 percent ate the survey.
Statistics – consume with care, perhaps.
Whatever, sport consumes them greedily and it’s difficult to ignore them.
We’ve had a look at the Wales rugby numbers for 2018 and found some interesting figures among the more predictable ones...
THE PERFECT DEFENDER
Many people have been surprised by the elevation of Nicky Smith in the Wales set-up this year.
But his performance against Australia, when he shone at the breakdown and proved solid in the scrums, showed why Warren Gatland had opted to place faith in the 24-year-old Osprey.
Smith has also been flawless in defence. Indeed, in eight outings for Wales over the past 12 months – five starts, three appearances off the bench – he has not missed a single tackle: 52 hits attempted, all of them nailed.
He is the only man to have started five games or more for Wales over the past year and returned a 100 percent tackle completion rate.
Elliot Dee and Justin Tipuric also deserve mentions. Dee nailed 77 out of 78 tackles he put in for a 99 percent success rate, with Tipuric on the mark with 81 of the 83 hits he made, a success rate of 98 percent.
Other notable performers included Adam Beard and Cory Hill (both 95 percent) and Alun Wyn Jones (90 percent) while Seb Davies and Rhodri Jones returned clean sheets from fewer games.
BUSIEST TACKLER
Ross Moriarty put in 143 hits over his nine appearances – indeed, it was effectively eight outings as he went off early after taking a bump on the head against South Africa.
He was more industrious as a tackler than any other Wales player.
Moriarty did miss 12 tackles, but no one could fault his effort. When there were opposition ball carriers to be brought down, he had a go at doing the necessary.
Hadleigh Parkes also made it over the century mark, with 109 tackles, but opposition players evaded the centre 18 times. Cory Hill made 107 hits and Alun Wyn Jones 97, commendable efforts both.
THE BREAK MAN
He started only six games for Wales in 2018, and made a further appearance off the bench in the dying minutes
against Scotland, but if you wanted someone to make a break for you, then Steff Evans was your man.
The little Scarlet made more clean breaks than any other player, with 15.
And those came while it appeared to become increasingly difficult for Evans to command a place as a first choice.
Maybe the concession of seven turnovers in that time is relevant – but not totally so as George North (8) and Josh Adams (7) have also had issues in that area. Perhaps a modest 74 percent success rate as a tackler has also counted against Adams.
Whatever, it’s not for any lack of attacking skills that the creative wing from the west Wales village of Five Roads has been struggling to nail down a starting shirt, with Evans also having two try assists next to his name. That’s why he shouldn’t be ruled out of contention for a World Cup squad next year.
He has game-breaking skills that can be priceless.
THE 100 PER CENT BOOT BOY
Leigh Halfpenny will always be remembered as one of Wales’ greatest goal-kickers, a man who could be relied upon to slot a kick when his country needed him to (assuming everyone forgets the shocker he missed from in front of the sticks against Australia).
More often than not, when the pressure is on, the Scarlets full-back delivers.
He is also brave enough to take on shots from long range as well, meaning opponents give away penalties in their own half at their peril.
This year, he has been on target with 22 out of 27 attempts for Wales, giving him an 81 percent success rate.
It compares well with Gareth Anscombe, who has bisected the posts with 73 percent of his kicks, and Rhys Patchell, who has an accuracy rate of 76 percent for Wales in 2018.
But Halfpenny hasn’t been the most deadly in front of goal for his country this year. That accolade actually goes to Dan Biggar.
A significant qualification is that he has only featured in five of Wales’s 12 games.
But he has landed all nine of his shots at goal, including the matchwinning pressure kick to break Australia’s challenge and the quickfire double that sealed victory over South Africa. Biggar seems destined to
always have critics.
But no-one can ever say he wasn’t a superb goal-kicker.
TURNOVERS
Sam Warburton revealed in an insightful article recently that when he played he used to count net turnovers – the number of turnovers a player achieve minus the number of times he is turned over himself.
So, a flanker who achieves four possession steals in a match isn’t exactly hitting the heights if he coughs up ball on five occasions in the same game.
In that respect, let’s award a gold star to Justin Tipuric who pilfered possession 10 times for Wales in 2018 and didn’t concede one turnover himself.
Ellis Jenkins also did remarkably well. The Cardiff Blue robbed opponents 11 times and saw them take ball off him just twice.
Ross Moriarty, who started nine of Wales’ 12 games, achieved four turnovers but lost ball on nine occasions, while Gareth Davies had a useful five steals next to his name but turned over ball on 10 occasions.
Gareth Anscombe claimed opposition possession twice for his side, only to lose ball 13 times – not a stat that will please him nor defence coach Shaun Edwards – while Rhys Patchell’s two steals were made less impressive by the six times he saw the opposition dispossess him. Dan Biggar finished in credit, winning three turnovers and conceding two.
Chainsaw king Owen Watkin? Five steals, four possession concessions.
THE METRES MAN
Who made the most metres with ball in hand? That would be George North – no real surprise there, for the Ospreys is strong enough to break tackles and has the pace to sometimes avoid them.
North made 421 metres from 62 carries, with Steff Evans carrying the same number of times for an impressive 391 metres.
Hadleigh Parkes took the ball forward on 78 occasions for 284 metres, while Gareth Anscombe’s 71 runs saw him cover 284 metres of ground.
Notable forward efforts came from Ross Moriarty, whose 64 charges yielded 139 metres and Cory Hill, who made 51 carries and gained 130 metres.
DEFENDERS BEATEN
Another win for George North, who left 25 defenders clutching thin air over the course of the year.
After an injury plagued time, the Osprey appeared more like his old self at times.
Defenders often found him a handful and they also didn’t have it easy against Hadleigh Parkes, with the Scarlet beating 20 would-be tacklers.
Let’s hear it, too, for Steff Evans and Gareth Anscombe, who showed their attacking skills by each leaving 14 opponents behind, and Gareth Davies, who left 10 defenders in his slipstream.
THE TRY GUYS
Step forward Liam Williams, with four tries from six outings, one of those appearances being made off the bench.
Before his score against France last term, Williams had gone nine Tests without scoring. But you can’t keep a good man down and the former Scarlet is back in the groove, with his first try against Tonga recently underlining his worth as a high-class finisher.
George North also scored four times over the year, with Steff Evans managing one touchdown fewer.
TRY ASSISTS
Warren Gatland and Rob Howley have picked Gareth Anscombe at No. 10 in an attempt to spark Wales’s attack, and the Cardiff Blue has responded.
It hasn’t been perfect, or anything to fire off too many letters home about, but there are clear signs Anscombe is pressing the right buttons when it comes to offensive play.
He has three assists next to his name, the same number as Gareth Davies. Steff Evans, Hadleigh Parkes, Owen Watkin and Ellis Jenkins are among those who have set up a couple of tries each.