Mvovo lights up the stats

Jake White’s call to move Lwazi Mvovo to fullback seems to have been fully vindicated by the Sharks speedster’s sensational stats against the Lions on Saturday. Eyeball all the latest Super Rugby stats …

There had been questions around White’s decision to shift the flyer from the wing to fullback, but statistics taken from the Vodacom Rugby Stats App show that Mvovo seems as happy as Larry at the back …

Not only did Mvovo swing the match against the Lions in his side’s favour with a brilliant individual try but he was also instrumental in other aspects of play. Mvovo topped two of the categories on the App, while ranking second in another in on the weekend.

Mvov ranked first on defenders beaten – 7, with the Crusaders’ Nemani Nadolo and Sharks centre Sibusiso Sithole 2 behind.

Mvovo is also among the top performers in terms of clean breaks, sharing the spoils with Nadolo, the Force’s Nick Cummins and Rod Davies of the Reds.

He covered an impressive 154 metres against the Lions, putting him second behind the Force’s honey budger, Nick Cummins’ whos three tries netted him a whopping 183m.

Also making an appearance among the leaders on the weekend is Sharks captain and hooker Bismarck du Plessis. He might have been a little cheeky when chatting to referee Craig Joubert, but on the field Du Plessis was colossal, nabbing five turnovers against the Lions.

Bulls stalwart Victor Matfield is another vindicated, taking a monster 13 lineouts on the Bulls’ own throw to suggest that his call to come back to rugby as a player is a good one.

In the overall tournament stats, Wille le Roux is back at the top of the list of metres run, but in a reflection of the type of rugby seen by South African sides, the only other domination of the stats come via the boot of Marnitz Boshoff.

Best SA players in Round 9 of Super Rugby:

Metres Run: Lwazi Mvovo (Sharks) – 154m

Clean Breaks: Lwazi Mvovo (Sharks) – 3

Defenders Beaten: Lwazi Mvovo (Sharks) – 7

Lineouts won on own throw: Victor Matfield (Bulls) – 13

Turnovers Won: Bismarck du Plessis (Sharks) – 5

Carries: Jurgen Visser (Bulls) – 16

Try assists: Piet van Zyl (Bulls) – 2

Penalty goals: Marnitz Boshoff (Lions) – 4

Conversions: Elgar Watts (Cheetahs) – 4

SA players topping the overall Super Rugby stats:

Points: Marnitz Boshoff (Lions) – 121

Penalty Goals: Marnitz Boshoff – 27

Drop goals: Marnitz Boshoff 6

Metres run: Willie le Roux 638m

Loose ball collected: Jurgen Visser 30

All the Round-9 Stats:

Try assists:

1. Piet van Zyl (Bulls) – 2

2. Adriaan Strauss (Cheetahs) – 1

3. Alby Mathewson (Force) – 1

4. Asaeli Tikoirotuma (Chiefs) – 1

5. Bernard Foley (Waratahs) – 1

6. Francois Uys (Cheetahs) – 1

Penalty goals:

1. Beauden Barrett (Hurricanes) – 6

2. Gareth Anscombe (Chiefs) – 5

3. Colin Slade (Crusaders) – 4

3. Francois Steyn (Sharks) – 4

4. Marnitz Boshoff (Lions) – 4

4. Mike Harris (Reds) – 4

5. Jason Woodward (Rebels) – 3

Conversions:

1. Aaron Cruden (Chiefs) – 5

2. Colin Slade (Crusaders) – 4

3. Elgar Watts (Cheetahs) – 4

4. Jacques-Louis Potgieter (Bulls) – 2

5. Nicholas White (Brumbies) – 2

Metres Run:

1. Nick Cummins (Force) – 183m

2. Lwazi Mvovo (Sharks) – 154m

3. Kurtley Beale (Waratahs) – 134m

4. Nemani Nadolo (Crusaders) – 126m

5. Rob Horne (Waratahs) – 103m

Clean Breaks:

1. Lwazi Mvovo (Sharks) – 3

2. Nemani Nadolo (Crusaders) – 3

3. Nick Cummins (Force) – 3

4. Rod Davies (Reds) – 3

5. Adam Ashley-Cooper (Waratahs) – 2

Carries:

1. Bernard Foley (Waratahs) – 20

2. Kurtley Beale (Waratahs) – 20

3. Quade Cooper (Reds) – 19

4. Jurgen Visser (Bulls) – 16

5. Willie le Roux (Cheetahs) – 15

Defenders Beaten:

1. Lwazi Mvovo (Sharks) – 7

2. Nemani Nadolo (Crusaders) – 5

3. Sibusiso Sithole (Sharks) – 5

4. Teboho Mohoje (Cheetahs) – 5

5. Cornall Hendricks (Cheetahs) – 4

Turnovers Won:

1. Bismarck du Plessis (Sharks) – 5

2. Matt Hodgson (Force) – 3

3. Adam Coleman (Force) – 2

4. Derick Minnie (Lions) – 2

5. Elliot Dixon (Highlanders) – 2

Lineouts won on own throw:

1. Victor Matfield (Bulls) – 13

2. Luke Jones (Rebels) – 7

3. Jake Schatz (Reds) – 6

4. Brodie Retallick (Chiefs) – 5

5. Wilhelm Steenkamp (Force) – 5

Overall stats after Round 9:

Points:

1. Marnitz Boshoff (Lions) – 121

2. Lima Sopoaga (Highlanders) – 109

3. Beauden Barrett (Hurricanes) – 103

4. Quade Cooper (Reds) – 94

5. Jacques-Louis Potgieter (Bulls) – 88

Penalty Goals:

1. Marnitz Boshoff – 27

2. Lima Sopoaga – 26

3. Beauden Barrett- 19

4. Jacques-Louis Potgieter – 18

5. Johan Goosen – 18

Drop goals:

1. Marnitz Boshoff 6

2. Jacques-Louis Potgieter 3

3. Angus Roberts 1

4. Johan Goosen 1

5. Louis Fouche 1

6. Quade Cooper 1

Metres run:

1. Willie le Roux 638m

2. Jesse Mogg 597

3. Julian Savea 546m

4. Ben Smith 518m

5. Jurgen Visser 496m

Loose ball collected:

1. Jurgen Visser 30

2. Jesse Mogg 27

3. Francois Hougaard 24

4. Will Genia 23

5. Willie le Roux 23

Download the Vodacom Rugby Stats App from vodacom.co.za/rugby