After an enthralling Super Saturday drew the curtain on another incredible RBS 6 Nations Championship, England were crowned champions in Dublin.
France, Ireland and Scotland all earned three wins apiece which meant the sides were separated only by points difference.
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And the statistics underline just how tight the margins were in the 2017 Championship, in which six matches were won by a single score. WATERTIGHT DEFENCE
With attacking players aplenty across all six sides in the Championship, the defensive efforts had to be monumental to stand any chance of picking up precious victories.
It was the Irish that conceded the fewest points in the tournament – just 77 over their five matches – but it was English and Welsh individuals that topped the tackling charts at the end of the Championship.
After their physical encounter at Principality Stadium in Round Two – with England snatching a late 21-16 victory – Joe Launchbury was credited with 23 tackles in the game which contributed to his astonishing total of 85 in the tournament, missing just four.
But the Welsh duo of Justin Tipuric and Sam Warburton followed closely in the tournament statistics with 84 and 78 tackles made respectively, underlining the ferocity of the defences in this year’s Championship. Most tackles made in the RBS 6 Nations: Joe Lanchbury (England) – 85 made, 4 missed Justin Tipuric (Wales) – 84, 4 Sam Warburton (Wales) – 78, 4 Maro Itoje (England) – 73, 3 Jonny Gray (Scotland) – 73, 4 INDUSTRIOUS BALL CARRIERS
A lot can be said of the tireless work of the loose forwards, their relentless ball-carrying to put their team on the front foot and there were a number of stand-out individuals in that respect.
CJ Stander, who scored a memorable hat-trick in Rome as Ireland earned a bonus-point win over Italy, carried 103 times – over 30 more than any other player – making 234 metres in the process.
Just as impressively, Frenchman Louis Picamoles made 362 metres with the ball in hand but in just 71 carries highlighting his immense value to Les Bleus during the tournament.
Irishmen Jamie Heaslip and Sean O’Brien also got through a mountain of work alongside Stander in the back row with Nathan Hughes making an average of 16 carries per start. Most carries in the RBS 6 Nations: CJ Stander (Ireland) – 103 carries, 234 metres made Louis Picamoles (France) – 71, 362 metres Jamie Heaslip (Ireland) – 70, 165 metres Sean O’Brien (Ireland) – 67, 82 metres Nathan Hughes (England) – 64, 242 metres WORLD BEATING BACKS
With forwards doing the bulk of the carrying up the middle, the backs earned their keep with their fast feet and neat foot work in the outside channels.
Many of the players in the back three topped their side’s lists for defenders beaten given the amount of counter-attacking opportunities they had.
England’s Mike Brown topped the list of backs for defenders beaten with 15 in total with France’s Virimi Vakatawa following closely behind with 14.
Impressive Italian winger Giovanbattista Venditti also features in the top five, beating 13 defenders in all despite his side enduring a winless 2017 campaign. Most defenders beaten by backs in the RBS 6 Nations: Mike Brown (England) – 15 Virimi Vakatawa (France) – 14 Keith Earls (Ireland) – 13 Giovanbattista Venditti (Italy) – 13 Rob Kearney (Ireland) – 12 George North (Wales) – 12 SHARPSHOOTERS
Every world-class team contains a superb goal-kicker and the statistics show that the RBS 6 Nations had several on show this year.
Kickers Owen Farrell and Camille Lopez landed an average of five kicks per match in the 2017 Championship, giving their teams vital points as well as instilling fear of penalty concession in their opponents.
Lopez top scored in the tournament with 67 points in all, landing an impressive 89% of his goals which helped Les Bleus to their first top-half finish in the RBS 6 Nations since 2011.
Welshman Leigh Halfpenny kicked all of his side’s points in their dramatic loss in Paris on Super Saturday and features in our list of the most accurate kickers.
And it’s also worth mentioning Irish duo Paddy Jackson, who kicked 14 of 15, and Johnny Sexton, who was sixth in points scored but did not miss any of his nine shots at goal. Top points scorers in the RBS 6 Nations: Camille Lopez (France) – 67 points, 25/28 kicks at goal (89%) Owen Farrell (England) – 63 points, 25/32 (78%) Leigh Halfpenny (Wales) – 62 points, 23/26 (88%) Finn Russell (Scotland) – 42 points, 15/18 (83%) Paddy Jackson (Ireland) – 36 points, 14/15 (93%) KEY JUMPERS
With so many expert exponents in the lineout in the modern game, it is no surprise that many top sides now use the set-piece as an attacking base.
While traditionally second rows have been the main targets in the lineout, this year it was a flanker who topped the charts.
Justin Tipuric led the way by four from Devin Toner of Ireland who also added two steals to his tally.
Courtney Lawes and Maro Itoje also cracked the top five, with the pair swapping between second row and blindside for England, while Alun Wyn Jones, Sam Warburton and Richie Gray each managed 13 takes. Most lineout takes: Justin Tipuric (Wales) – 24 takes, 0 steals Devin Toner (Ireland) – 20, 2 Courtney Lawes (England) – 18, 0 Maro Itoje (England) – 16, 2 Alun Wyn Jones (Wales) – 13, 2 Sam Warburton (Wales) – 13, 1 Richie Gray (Scotland) – 13, 1 With the highest quality data, innovative analytics and commentary from some of the best minds in rugby, the Accenture Analysis Team helps fans to #Seebeyond the standard match stats.
Read more at http://www.rbs6nations.com/en/matchcentre/match_data.php#E7hYocCgB18LYAu8.99
