Rugby World Cup: Stats leaders after blockbuster opening weekend

Dylan Coetzee
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Split with Will Rowlands (Wales), George Ford (England) and Bundee Aki (Ireland)

Split with Will Rowlands (Wales), George Ford (England) and Bundee Aki (Ireland)

The first round of action in the 2023 Rugby World Cup has already finished and what a weekend it was, filled with thrills and spills and everything in between.

With several games in the bank, Planet Rugby takes a closer look at the leading performers in the global showpiece so far.

Most points

England’s George Ford takes the lead in this category after a masterclass against Argentina where he scored a whopping 27 points, including three drop-goals to win the clash. What is even more impressive is how he marshalled his team for 75 odd minutes with a man down.

Runners-up: Australia’s Ben Donaldson sparkled for Australia with a 25-point haul followed by Ireland skipper Johnny Sexton with 24 whilst France’s Thomas Ramos and Italy’s Tommaso Allan bagged 17 apiece.

Most tries

There is not one clear leader in the try-scoring ranks with a strong group of players scoring a brace in the first week of the tournament.

Donaldson features again as he fired in his first start at full-back with two tries ,as did the returning Sexton and his teammate Bundee Aki. Japan second-row Amato Fakatava showed his class with a pair as did New Zealander Mark Telea, who was at the double against the hosts.

Most carries

A category for the hard workers with ball in hand and this one is led by the tireless Fijian Viliame Mata, who carried all game long against Wales.

The rampant number eight managed a whopping 22 carries in a gruelling Test against the Welsh that the Pacific side almost stole at the death.

Runners-up: Irishman Aki was not far behind on 20 with Fijian Ilaisa Droasese (19), All Black Beauden Barrett (18) and Ireland second-row Joe McCarthy (17) rounding out the top five.

Most clean breaks

The hard-running Aki takes the lead in this one after what was a really strong performance against Romania.

The New Zealand-born star was absolutely rampant, making an impressive five clean breaks in a good afternoon shift.

Runners-up: The rest of the top five all sit on three clean breaks which include Selesitino Ravutaumada (Fiji), Telea (New Zealand), Mack Hansen (Ireland) and Mark Nawaqanitawase (Australia).

Most tackles

Now for the hard workers on the other side of the ball and an area dominated by Welsh players who made over 250 tackles as a collective.

Will Rowlands leads the way with a simply ridiculous tackle count of 27, underlining how hard worked to get his side over the line. Outstanding.

Runners-up: Second and third on the list sees two more Welshmen feature in Gareth Thomas (23) and skipper Jac Morgan (20). Meanwhile, Italian captain Michele Lamaro (19) and Japan’s Jack Cornelsen (19) round out the top five.

READ MORE: Rugby World Cup Team of the Week: Nine countries represented in our line-up

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