Super Rugby’s Super Stars
South African players, led by Lions captain Warren Whiteley, were among the statistical stars of this season’s Super Rugby.
The New Zealand Herald gives a complete breakdown of every possible statistic and many of the good ones belong to South Africa’s best.
Whiteley has the most successful tackle rate and Lions teammate Franco Mostert made the most lineout steals.
The Kings’ Chris Cloete won the most turnovers and Pieter Stef du Toit the most lineouts.
Bulls captain Adriaan Strauss was the most accurate with his lineout throwing.
Sharks’s Phillip van der Walt made the most tackles, Elton Jantjies scored the most points and Stormers fullback SP Marais made the most offloads (31).
Cheetahs wing Raymond Rhule had the worst tackle percentage and also missed the most tackles.
Most points
Elton Jantjies (Lions) – 166
Most tries
Ngani Laumape and Vince Aso (Hurricanes) – 14
Most conversions
Elton Jantjies (Lions) – 47
Most missed conversions
Elton Jantjies (Lions) and Richie Mo’unga (Crusaders) – 15
Most penalty goals
Curwin Bosch (Sharks) – 30
Most missed penalty goals
Reece Hodge (Rebels) – 12
Best goal kicking percentage (Min 50 attempts)
Marty Banks (Highlanders) – 86.2%
Most drop goals
Lionel Cronje (Kings) – 2
Most carries
Damian McKenzie (Chiefs) – 210
Most metres
Damian McKenzie (Chiefs) – 1514
Average metres per carry (Min 700 minutes)
Makazole Mapimpi (Kings) – 9.77
Clean breaks
James Lowe (Chiefs) – 36
Defenders beaten
Damian McKenzie (Chiefs) – 72
Offloads
SP Marais (Stormers) and Jordie Barrett (Hurricanes) – 31
Try assists
Beauden Barrett (Hurricanes) – 13
Joe Powell (Brumbies) – 929
Kicks in play
Lionel Cronje (Kings) – 184
Tackles
Phillip Van Der Walt (Sharks) – 155
Missed tackles
Raymond Rhule (Cheetahs) – 43
Best tackle percentage (Min 70 tackles)
Warren Whiteley (Lions) – 98.1%
Worst tackle percentage (Min 70 tackles)
Raymond Rhule (Cheetahs) – 56.6%
Turnovers won
Chris Cloete (Kings) – 34
Turnovers conceded
Damian McKenzie (Chiefs) and Clayton Blommetjies (Cheetahs) – 36
Penalties conceded
George Smith (Reds) – 24
Yellow cards
Ross Geldenhuys (Kings) – 4
Lineout throws won
Torsten Van Jaarsveld (Cheetahs) – 130
Lineout throws lost
Mbongeni Mbonami (Stormers) – 23
Lineout throw success (Min 50 throws)
Adriaan Strauss (Bulls) – 94%
Lineouts won
Pieter-Steph du Toit (Stormers) and Willie Britz (Sunwolves) – 54
Lineout steals
Franco Mostert (Lions) – 13