Six Nations: Nine fascinating stats from a wild Round Four including drop-goal kings and tireless defence

Dylan Coetzee
Split with England players, Italy captain Michele Lamaro and France star Thomas Ramos

Split with England players, Italy captain Michele Lamaro and France star Thomas Ramos

A fairly predictable 2024 Six Nations turned into utter chaos in the fourth round as England shocked Ireland, Italy won at home and Les Bleus rediscovered their form to put Wales to the sword.

With the dust beginning to settle and with the help of Opta, Planet Rugby takes a closer look at some of the interesting statistics from a turbulent round.

Drop-goal kings

It had to be the young star Marcus Smith who won the game for England with a well-taken drop-goal effectively silencing the criticism he had received in the build-up to the Ireland Test.

Interestingly, it was England’s seventh drop-goal since the beginning of last year’s Rugby World Cup thanks to a bunch from George Ford and Owen Farrell before Smith’s winner. During the same period, no other Test side managed more than one drop-goal.

Battering Ben Earl

Smith was the hero with the boot but Earl was the life of the England side as he relentlessly carried a whopping 20 times, going level with Billy Vunipola for most carries by an England player in a Six Nations match. The number eight almost drew level with Vunipola again for defenders beaten but Earl’s impressive eight players was one short of the record of nine.

Relief in Rome and Scotland the target

The Azzurri played their hearts out and were rewarded for their effort with their first win at home since 2013 ending the 11-year losing streak that spanned a painful 26 losses on the bounce at home.

The triumph was their 14th since being invited into the Six Nations at the turn of the century and intriguingly six of those have come against Scotland.

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Defensive warriors

For Italy to go on and win against Scotland they needed something special and their skipper Michele Lamaro provided just that with a staggering 27 tackles, which is now the most tackles made in a single game by an Azzurri player in Six Nations history.

Similarly, although it was in a losing cause, young Wales captain Dafydd Jenkins made 26/26 tackles against France, making him the player with the second highest single-game tackle count whilst maintaining 100% success. Luke Charteris holds the record with a mind-blowing 31/31 in 2015.

Finally, France arrives

A turbulent campaign for Les Bleus seems to have finally turned a corner as the side managed a solid win against Wales.

Their discipline was one of the highlights as they conceded only three penalties in the clash – their lowest ever. That shows the hard work in training.

A return to form coincided with a more typical points haul from Thomas Ramos, whose 20 points is the most of any player in a single game this season and the most by a Frenchman against Wales in 20 years.

READ MORE: Chris Robshaw’s Six Nations Team of the Week: Ben Earl the standout but Italy’s super six dominate

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