Rugby World Cup: The best and worst performing goal kickers and their stats

Dylan Coetzee
Split with Thomas Ramos (France), Emiliano Boffelli (Arg) and Manie Libbok (RSA)

Split with Thomas Ramos (France), Emiliano Boffelli (Arg) and Manie Libbok (RSA)

The Rugby World Cup is the biggest event in the sport and teams spend years working towards the global showpiece, making every point count that much more.

With that in mind, there is added focus on the goal kickers for each team in how they can handle the pressure and the scoreboard from the tee. Planet Rugby takes a closer look at who is in the best and worst kicking form.

Sharpshooters

Japan kicker Rikiya Matsuda stays at 100% accuracy after a break from the action last weekend, with his tally of 10/10 during the tournament still intact.

Joining him in the sharpshooting category is Fijian hero Simione Kuruvoli, who kicked his side to an historic win over Australia by nailing a perfect 5/5 before also having a rest weekend.

William Havili of Tonga was flawless off the tee in their loss to Scotland kicking 3/3 to maintain his 100% record from seven total kicks in France. Georgian Tedo Abzhandadze also added to his perfect record with 3/3 in their draw against Portugal.

Ireland’s Ross Byrne and Welshman Leigh Halfpenny did not feature in the action over the weekend but remain at 100% so far.

Argentina great Nicolas Sanchez, Irishman Jack Crowley and Samoan D’Angelo Leuila join Welshman Sam Costelow, Samoan Lima Sopoaga and Chilean Matias Garafulic in having managed 100% from one kick.

Near perfect

There is great movement in the group that has kicked at 70%+ in the tournament so far. George Ford of England loses his top spot after not taking any kicks against Chile, leaving his overall kicking record at the World Cup at 92.3%. Ireland skipper Johnny Sexton climbs ahead after 2/2 against South Africa to move to 14/15 at 93.3% for the competition.

Scotland fly-half Finn Russell kicked 5/7 in his team’s win to take his accuracy to 85.7% whilst Wallaby Ben Donaldson kicked both his attempts to climb slightly to 83.3%.

French full-back Thomas Ramos kicked splendidly in his team’s 96-0 rout of Namibia with 12/13 off the tee shooting his numbers for the tournament to a more respectable 81.8%. Returning England skipper Owen Farrell matches that same number with his 9/11 against Chile.

Next up is All Black Damian McKenzie who was on fire against Namibia two weekends ago, both with ball in hand and off the tee in difficult conditions. The star managed 9/11 at 81% on the night.

Wales star Gareth Anscombe turned to hero for his side as he kicked the Wallabies to their biggest defeat in Rugby World Cup history, nailing 7/9 at 77.7%. Not far behind and restoring his numbers is Argentina wing Emiliano Boffelli whose 4/5 was clutch for Los Pumas’ important win against Samoa, taking his overall accuracy to 75%. Welshman Dan Biggar shares the figure after kicking 1/1 before leaving the field injured.

Versatile Springbok Damian Willemse remains where he was after he kicked 5/7 at 71% in his side’s demolition of Romania in round two.

Chasing pack

There more change in the remaining kickers with former Wallaby and now Samoan fly-half Christian Leali’ifano only managing 1/3 bringing his accuracy down to 63% for the tournament.

Frank Lomani of Fiji only managed one kick from three attempts in their last outing, tainting his perfect record in their opening game, dropping him down to 60% accuracy.

The 50% threshold is shared by three players in Romanian Gabriel Rupanu, Portugal scrum-half Samuel Marques and Namibia’s Tiaan Swanepoel.

Springbok Manie Libbok struggled off the tee against Ireland, leaving points out on the field with his accuracy at 36.3%. All Black Richie Mo’unga was surprisingly inaccurate against France, only getting one of his three attempts at 33%, with Fijian Teti Tela and Georgian Luka Matkava having the same output.

Far de Klerk failed to add to his tally for the tournament leaving him at 25%.

READ MORE: Rugby World Cup: Change aplenty in stats leaders after high-scoring round

Argentina