Lies, damned lies, and other related topics

[Puja]

Since we've got such a plethora of statistics available to us due to the fantasy rugby game having all the Opta numbers, I thought I'd try collating a few pertinent things from them:

Top turnovers:
Jamie Gibson - 12
Will Welch - 11
Blair Cowan - 11
Sam Lewis - 10
Ollie Woodburn! - 10
Dave Ward - 9

Top completed tackles:
Lewis Ludlow - 202 completed, 20 missed, 18.51 per 80m
Tom Dunn - 167, 13, 21.01
Sam Lewis - 157, 15, 16.75
Jono Ross - 155, 14, 15.21
Mark Wilson - 153, 9, 12.94

Defenders beaten:
Ollie Woodburn - 42 defenders beaten, 22 clean breaks
Josh Adams: 39, 20
Charlie Walker: 34, 11
Alex Lewington, 31, 22
Jonny May, 31, 17
Antony Watson 30, 6

Interesting results of notable players:
Ben Curry - 4 turnovers, 11 penalties conceded, but 16.97 tackles per 80 puts him as the third highest per minute tackler - Poor man's Sam Underhill?
Harry Mallinder - 41 completed tackles, 26 missed. at just 3.73 per game.
Cipriani has 13m ran with 1.2 defenders beaten per 80, Ford has 14.2 with 1.6 defenders beaten, whereas Farrell has 19.2m with 1.97 defenders beaten. Smith, for reference, has 22.98m with 1.7 defenders beaten.

Anyone got any requests while I'm in a data diving sort of mood (may or may not be trying to avoid doing housework)?

Puja

[Mellsblue]

Is this Prem only?

[Puja]

Is this Prem only?

It is indeed.

Puja

[Scrumhead]

Since we've got such a plethora of statistics available to us due to the fantasy rugby game having all the Opta numbers, I thought I'd try collating a few pertinent things from them:

Top turnovers:
Jamie Gibson - 12
Will Welch - 11
Blair Cowan - 11
Sam Lewis - 10
Ollie Woodburn! - 10
Dave Ward - 9

Top completed tackles:
Lewis Ludlow - 202 completed, 20 missed, 18.51 per 80m
Tom Dunn - 167, 13, 21.01
Sam Lewis - 157, 15, 16.75
Jono Ross - 155, 14, 15.21
Mark Wilson - 153, 9, 12.94

Defenders beaten:
Ollie Woodburn - 42 defenders beaten, 22 clean breaks
Josh Adams: 39, 20
Charlie Walker: 34, 11
Alex Lewington, 31, 22
Jonny May, 31, 17
Antony Watson 30, 6

Interesting results of notable players:
Ben Curry - 4 turnovers, 11 penalties conceded, but 16.97 tackles per 80 puts him as the third highest per minute tackler - Poor man's Sam Underhill?
Harry Mallinder - 41 completed tackles, 26 missed. at just 3.73 per game.
Cipriani has 13m ran with 1.2 defenders beaten per 80, Ford has 14.2 with 1.6 defenders beaten, whereas Farrell has 19.2m with 1.97 defenders beaten. Smith, for reference, has 22.98m with 1.7 defenders beaten.

Anyone got any requests while I'm in a data diving sort of mood (may or may not be trying to avoid doing housework)?

Puja

What’s the head to head comparison between Ben Curry and Sam Underhill (all stats).

I suspect Underhill will come out top defensively with Curry massively ahead on attacking stats.

As an aside - Mallinder’s defensive stats are horrific which shows that his reputation has been earned ...

[twitchy]

Get woodburn in at 7.

[Banquo]

Since we've got such a plethora of statistics available to us due to the fantasy rugby game having all the Opta numbers, I thought I'd try collating a few pertinent things from them:

Top turnovers:
Jamie Gibson - 12
Will Welch - 11
Blair Cowan - 11
Sam Lewis - 10
Ollie Woodburn! - 10
Dave Ward - 9

Top completed tackles:
Lewis Ludlow - 202 completed, 20 missed, 18.51 per 80m
Tom Dunn - 167, 13, 21.01
Sam Lewis - 157, 15, 16.75
Jono Ross - 155, 14, 15.21
Mark Wilson - 153, 9, 12.94

Defenders beaten:
Ollie Woodburn - 42 defenders beaten, 22 clean breaks
Josh Adams: 39, 20
Charlie Walker: 34, 11
Alex Lewington, 31, 22
Jonny May, 31, 17
Antony Watson 30, 6

Interesting results of notable players:
Ben Curry - 4 turnovers, 11 penalties conceded, but 16.97 tackles per 80 puts him as the third highest per minute tackler - Poor man's Sam Underhill?
Harry Mallinder - 41 completed tackles, 26 missed. at just 3.73 per game.
Cipriani has 13m ran with 1.2 defenders beaten per 80, Ford has 14.2 with 1.6 defenders beaten, whereas Farrell has 19.2m with 1.97 defenders beaten. Smith, for reference, has 22.98m with 1.7 defenders beaten.

Anyone got any requests while I'm in a data diving sort of mood (may or may not be trying to avoid doing housework)?

Puja

Fair play on Faz. How many games is that?

[TheNomad]

Thanks Puja! Love these stats. Where did you get them?

I'd be interested to know which of our back rowers (obviously the main 8 candidates - Hughes, Simmonds, Billy - but also potential 6s - Chisholm, Armand etc.) is the most 'destructive' - so by that, anything of note around (per game really) carries, defenders beaten, metres made etc. would be interesting. Especially as we consider the feedback on Armand and needing to be more impactful at the gainline. I say this bearing in mind that Robshaw, while good at recycling, doesn't strike me as much of a carrier.

[I R Geech]

Out of interest, what would be the England XV purely based on top stats by position?

[Digby]

What stats would you like to use by position?

[Mellsblue]

What stats would you like to use by position?

Followers on Twitter

[Tom Moore]

Since we've got such a plethora of statistics available to us due to the fantasy rugby game having all the Opta numbers, I thought I'd try collating a few pertinent things from them:

Top turnovers:
Jamie Gibson - 12
Will Welch - 11
Blair Cowan - 11
Sam Lewis - 10
Ollie Woodburn! - 10
Dave Ward - 9

Top completed tackles:
Lewis Ludlow - 202 completed, 20 missed, 18.51 per 80m
Tom Dunn - 167, 13, 21.01
Sam Lewis - 157, 15, 16.75
Jono Ross - 155, 14, 15.21
Mark Wilson - 153, 9, 12.94

Defenders beaten:
Ollie Woodburn - 42 defenders beaten, 22 clean breaks
Josh Adams: 39, 20
Charlie Walker: 34, 11
Alex Lewington, 31, 22
Jonny May, 31, 17
Antony Watson 30, 6

Interesting results of notable players:
Ben Curry - 4 turnovers, 11 penalties conceded, but 16.97 tackles per 80 puts him as the third highest per minute tackler - Poor man's Sam Underhill?
Harry Mallinder - 41 completed tackles, 26 missed. at just 3.73 per game.
Cipriani has 13m ran with 1.2 defenders beaten per 80, Ford has 14.2 with 1.6 defenders beaten, whereas Farrell has 19.2m with 1.97 defenders beaten. Smith, for reference, has 22.98m with 1.7 defenders beaten.

Anyone got any requests while I'm in a data diving sort of mood (may or may not be trying to avoid doing housework)?

Puja

Would there be any way of finding out the lineout stats of our back row contenders, specifically at 6?

[Digby]

What stats would you like to use by position?

Followers on Twitter

Is there even one rugby player worth following?

[Puja]

What’s the head to head comparison between Ben Curry and Sam Underhill (all stats).

I suspect Underhill will come out top defensively with Curry massively ahead on attacking stats.

As an aside - Mallinder’s defensive stats are horrific which shows that his reputation has been earned ...

Underhill has only played 280 minutes (equivalent to 3.5 full games), so the stats might be a little skewed by that. He has won 3 turnovers, conceded 1 penalty, made 66 tackles (18.86 per 80m), but has missed quite a high number at 12 (which actually backs up my eyeball opinion). In attack, he has made a grand total of 21m (6 per 80m), made 15 passes (4.29) and conceded 3 turnovers. Not setting the world alight, although allowances have to be made for him playing for Bath, who don't generally tend to enjoy having the ball.

BCurry has played 627 minutes (7.8 full games). In that time, he has won 4 turnovers, conceded 11 penalties, made 133 tackles (16.97) with only 7 missed. In attack, he has made 10 clean breaks, beaten 15 defenders, given one try-scoring pass, made 214m (27.3), 25 passes (3.19) and has conceded 5 turnovers. He has also won 10 lineouts, compared to Underhill's 1 (which I'm assuming was a misthrow).

Running the numbers for TCurry just for the sake of it, he has played 260 minutes (3.25 games), won 3 turnovers, conceded 3 penalties, made 60 tackles (18.46) with 4 missed. In attack, he has made 1 clean break, beaten 6 defenders, 54m (16.62), made 7 passes (2.15) and conceded 4 turnovers. He has also won 3 lineouts.

The thing about Mallinder is that, even with the massive drag factor of his missed tackles, he's still a pretty high scorer in the game. He has so much good about him that's just let down by his lack of minerals.

Fair play on Faz. How many games is that?

It's 536 minutes, so the equivalent of 6.7 full games.

Thanks Puja! Love these stats. Where did you get them?

I'd be interested to know which of our back rowers (obviously the main 8 candidates - Hughes, Simmonds, Billy - but also potential 6s - Chisholm, Armand etc.) is the most 'destructive' - so by that, anything of note around (per game really) carries, defenders beaten, metres made etc. would be interesting. Especially as we consider the feedback on Armand and needing to be more impactful at the gainline. I say this bearing in mind that Robshaw, while good at recycling, doesn't strike me as much of a carrier.

They're the official Opta stats, which you get with the fantasy rugby game if you pay the optional £5 fee.

In terms of destructive back rowers, it's hard to judge, as not everything is split up by the stats into per 80m. If you just look at defenders beaten, then Simmonds is the clear winner with 28, with the next nearest EQP being Guy Thompson on 18. with Wilson, Hughes, Harrison and Mercer on 17, and Armand 16. Robshaw has beaten 4 - make of that what you will.

Amusingly, Nathan Hughes has apparently kicked the ball -1 metres this season.

Out of interest, what would be the England XV purely based on top stats by position?

Based on the fantasy game's scoring calculation (which takes into account metres made, clean breaks, passes, tackles, turnovers won, etc as well as tries scored) and adjusting for minutes played, the best England XV would be:

Mako
Thacker
Cooper-Woolley (lots of high-performing 1s, not many 3s up the top of the list)
Skinner
Slater (pushed by Lawes)
Polledri
Clarke
Simmonds

Robson (pushed by Vellacott)
Ford (pushed by Fazlet)
Earle (pushed by May)
Mills (although Fazlet's score pisses all over other 12s in the league, he hasn't been playing there for Saracens)
Trinder (pushed by Marchant)
Woodburn
Woodward (if we're poaching. If not, then Brown)

Puja

[Puja]

Would there be any way of finding out the lineout stats of our back row contenders, specifically at 6?

That's another one that's not a per 80m number, but I can spoil the ending and tell you that Armand and Gibson are going to be the winners. They both have 56 lineouts won, while the next biggest being Jono Ross on 34, Ludlow on 33, Lawes on 30 and then a big drop down to Itoje on 20. The celebrated Nathan Hughes has won less than 1 lineout per 80m.

Puja

[Tom Moore]

Would there be any way of finding out the lineout stats of our back row contenders, specifically at 6?

That's another one that's not a per 80m number, but I can spoil the ending and tell you that Armand and Gibson are going to be the winners. They both have 56 lineouts won, while the next biggest being Jono Ross on 34, Ludlow on 33, Lawes on 30 and then a big drop down to Itoje on 20. The celebrated Nathan Hughes has won less than 1 lineout per 80m.

Puja

Thank you for that. Armand seems to perform an awful lot of back 5 functions to a good standard without perhaps being outstanding in any particular area, other than lineout. Makes a case as a very well rounded 6.