Rugby / Statbunker News

Leicester Tigers

 

·         Leicester Tigers were top of the table at the end of the regular season and went on to win the Guinness Championship at Twickenham with a narrow win over London Irish

·         It was the second Guinness Championship for the Tigers following on form 2006/07

·         The Tigers finished top of the table for the 8^th time since the introduction of League rugby back in 1987/88

·         Leicester Tigers were top points scorers and had the third best defensive record in the Premiership 

·         Matt Smith, Ben Kay and Aaron Mauger started the most matches, 18, with Kay coming on in three more for 21 appearances out of 22 

·         Fly half Toby Flood in his first season at the club was top scorer with 126 points from 11 starts which French scrum half Julian Dupuy next with 88 points in his debut season 

·         In the try scoring strakes wingers Johne Murphy and Scott Hamilton led the way with six each which is the lowest total to top the Tigers try scoring list since 2004/05

·         In matches against the other top four sides they picked up four wins and a draw with just one defeat, 25-21 away at Bath

·         Had 10 different Nationalities play for them during the season with England leading the way with 25 and New Zealand next with five 

·         They used 36 different starters during the season which was the sixth highest total in the Premiership

·         Were the second highest try scorers with 62 two behind London Irish, and had the best record for tries in the final quarter with 26

·         They also had the best record for tries by backs with 47, 10 more than anyone else 

·         The Tigers were fifth in the list for tries conceded with 40 but only conceded eight in the last quarter of matches which was the second lowest total in the division

·         They conceded 23 tries in the first half and only the bottom two Bristol and Worcester conceded more 

·         The Tigers had two teenagers score tries, scrum half Ben Youngs and back rower Dan Hemingway

·         At the other end of the scale they had two of the four oldest try scorers in the Premiership, Mefin Davies and Julian White

 

Harlequins

 

·         They finished second which is their best ever finish in the Premiership having finished third four times and improved four places on last season 

·         Finished the season as the fourth highest scorers and had the second best defensive record 

·         Quins had 10 different Nationalities play during the season, there were 23 English players and Ireland was the next highest with three 

·         Prop Ceri Jones and flanker Chris Robshaw both started 21 out of 22 matches and Robshaw came on as a replacement in the other match, Jones has now stated 43 out of Quins last 44 Premiership matches over the last two seasons

·         New Zealand International fly half Nick Evans was the leading scorer with 130 points

·         Former New Zealand International Andrew Mehrtens was the last Kiwi before Evans to top score for Quins with 189 in 2005/06    

·         England wing Ugo Monye was the top try scorer with 10 tries the most by a Quins player in the Premiership since Dan Luger scored 11 back in 1998/99, for Monye is was a one try improvement from his previous best set back in 2003/04 

·         Quins had 32 different players start which was the third fewest, just one more than Bath and Northampton Saints 

·         They only had three players 21 or under start during the season which was the joint lowest number in the Premiership, but at the other end of the scale they only had eight players over 30 which was the lowest figure in the Premiership 

·         Quins were the joint top scorers in the first half of matches with 27 tries in the opening 40 minutes

·         They only conceded three tries in the opening 20 minutes of matches which was the lowest figure in the division

·         The Quins front row contributed nine tries which was the most by any front row in the Premiership and only one opposition front rower scored against them 

·         In matches against the other top four sides they, won three lost two and drew once, and did the double over Bath 

·         Quins conceded three penalty tries which was the most in the league 

 

London Irish 

 

·         Finished third in the regular season but got to Twickenham for the Championship final before losing to Leicester Tigers

·         They improved four places on the previous season and equalled their best ever finish in the top flight which dates back to 2005/06

·         Had the amazing record of picking up a losing bonus point in all nine of their defeats which was two more than any other side 

·         Irish also picked up the most try bonus points, seven, two more than any other side   

·         They had the best defensive record in the division and the second best scoring record

·         The Irish struggled in matches against the other top four sides with just one win and a draw to go with four defeats

·         No 8 Chris Hala’uifa was the only ever present starting all 22 league matches but was replaced in 11 of them 

·         Australian full back Peter Hewat was top scorer with 144 points for the second season running but this time with 59 points more in 16 starts 

·         In the try scoring stakes winger Adam Thompstone led the way with seven tries in 10 starts, which is the most since Topsy Ojo two seasons ago

·         The Irish had 33 different starters which was the fourth fewest in the Premiership   

·         The Irish had the fewest players 30 or over play during the season with just eight

·         Tom Homer was the second youngest player to appear in the Premiership during the season aged 18 years 236 days

·         At the other end of the scale they had the oldest player in the Premiership, Mike Catt aged 37 years 220 days

·         The Irish had the joint best record for tries conceded, just 36 including just 20 on the road which was the fewest in the division 

·         The Irish had the best record for fewest tries conceded in the last quarter of matches, just seven

·         The Irish back row contributed 19 of the clubs 64 tries which was the highest figure in the Premiership, seven more than any other side and with 18 their wingers were the most prolific in the Premiership 

·         They only conceded five tries to opposition wingers during the season which was easily the lowest

 

Bath

 

·         Bath finished in fourth place a one place drop on the previous season as they finished in the top four for the fourth time in the last six seasons 

·         South African World Cup winner Butch James started the most matches for Bath, 20, one more than Australian second row Justin Harrison but Harrison came on in two more matches and took part in 21 out of 22 matches for Bath

·         But it was prop Duncan Bell who played in all 22 matches starting 16 and coming on as a replacement in the other six matches 

·         James also top scored with 212 points which is the most points by a Bath player since Olly Barkley scored 219 back in 2003/04

·         In the try scoring stakes New Zealander Joe Maddock leading the way with 10 tries, which was double the number he scored two seasons ago when he also topped the clubs try scoring list, and he scored twice as many tries as anyone else during the season

·         In his four seasons at the club Maddock has scored 23 tries in 80 appearances, including 70 starts

·         In matches against the other top four sides they picked up two wins, a draw and three defeats 

·         Bath had just 31 starters which was the joint lowest figure along with Northampton Saints but only had three players 21 or under which was the lowest total in the Premiership 

·         They scored 58 tries including 27 in the first half which was the highest total in the Premiership   

·         Bath had the best record for tries in the opening quarter with 17 three more than any other side 

·         Although they finished fourth they had the 10^th worst defensive record with 48 tries conceded, only the bottom two conceded more  

·         The Bath front row contributed seven tries which was the second most by any front row in the Premiership after Quins 

·         16 of the 48 tries they conceded were scored by opposition wingers which was the third highest number in the Premiership 

  

Sale Sharks 

 

·         Sale Sharks finish fifth for a second successive season as they again miss out on the Play offs   

·         The Sharks had 36 different starters, only four sides used more

·         Charlie Hodgson was the only Sharks ever present and was replaced just twice, he also started the most matches last season and has started 42 of his sides last 44 matches 

·         Hodgson finished the season as the leading scorer for the fifth successive season and for the seventh time in eight seasons 

·         During the season Hodgson passed 1500 Premiership points and moved his all time club records for conversions, penalties and drop goals to 203, 295 and 28 respectively in his 128 appearances, including 124 starts

·         Also during the season he passed 2200 points for the Sharks in all competitions   

·         In matches against the top four they had a good record with four wins and four defeats, with the wins all coming at Edgeley Park 

·         They had 24 English players with Wales the next best represented country with six players 

·         Sale’s James Gaskell at 18 years 178 days was the youngest player to appear in the Premiership

·         Full back/wing Mark Cueto topped the try scoring list for the Sharks with nine tries as he topped the try scoring list for the fourth time in eight seasons and for the first time since 2005/06 – he went against the trend with six of his nine tries coming in the first half and five of them on the road 

·         He has now scored 64 tries and is within 11 of Steven Henley’s all time record for the club from 128 appearances including 124 starts 

·         He has now scored 91 tries for Sale in all competitions

·         They had the joint meanest defence along with Quins and London Irish with just 36 tries conceded including just 11 at home and 11 in the first half which are both the lowest in the division 

·         Sale’s second row has scored five tries which is the most by any second row in the Premiership  

 

 

Gloucester

 

·         After finishing top of the table in the regular season for the last two seasons the Cherry and Whites were down in sixth place, their lowest position since 2004/05 when they also finished sixth 

·         They did collect five try bonus points which was the second most in the division 

·         Olly Barkley, in his first and only season at the club, topped scored with 127 points, the lowest total to top the clubs points scoring list in the last 11 seasons 

·         In the try scoring stakes backs Olly Morgan and Iain Balshaw led the way with seven tries to finished joint top try scorers for the club for the first time, both were prolific in the first half of matches with Morgan scoring six and Balshaw five in the opening 40 minutes 

·         Gloucester were the only side in the Premiership to have scored more tries in the first half than in the second, 24 to 19

·         They did only manage 10 tries in the final quarter which was the second lowest total in the Premiership   

·         They conceded 12 tries in the opening 20 minutes of matches’, only Bristol and Northampton Saints conceded more  

·         Second row Alex Brown started the most matches 19, two more than any other player and also came on as a replacement in two other matches

·         Prop Nick Wood took part in all 22 matches starting 17 and coming on as a replacement in the other five 

·         Winger/centre James Simpson Daniel extended his all time club try scoring record to 44 with four in nine appearances during the season; his 44 tries have come in 118 matches including 104 starts over nine seasons at the club 

·         In eight matches against the top four sides they have four wins and four defeats including doing the double over Bath, Leicester Tigers were the only side to do the double over them  

·         They had 12 sin bins during the season with centre Anthony Allen the only player to pick up two

·         Five of the 12 were awarded by Wayne Barnes in three matches 

·         Only used players from seven different countries, England led the way with 26 and next on the list was Scotland with five 

·         Gloucester had 38 different players start during the season which was the second most in the Premiership along with Saracens and one behind Worcester 

·         They only managed one try through their front row which was the lowest total in the Premiership

·         They did only give up six tries to the opposition back row which was the second lowest total in the division   

·         In winger Charlie Sharples they had one of only eight teenagers to score in the Premiership