Six Nations: The seven individual stat leaders after two rounds, including most defenders beaten, metres made and tackles

Jared Wright
Caelan Doris Six Nations Matt fagerson duhan van der merweAnother thrilling weekend of the Six Nations has come to a close, and Planet Rugby once again delves into individual stats and who topped the respective categories.

Following another thrilling weekend of the Six Nations, Planet Rugby once again delves into individual statistics and who topped the respective categories.

Ireland and France put on a show in the weekend’s opening game, with the home side ending Les Bleus’ 15-game winning run. Meanwhile, Scotland continued their impressive run of form, dismantling Wales in a record victory in Cardiff, while England concluded the weekend’s action with a comfortable win over Italy at Twickenham.

With the help of Opta stats, we look at the seven individual stat leaders after two rounds of action.

Top try scorers

It’s a four-player race for the top try scorer award in the Six Nations after the opening two rounds.

17 tries were scored in the first round of Rugby’s Greatest Championship, which was improved upon by just one in round two.

Scotland’s Duhan van der Merwe and England’s Max Malins scored twice in round one but did not add to their tallies this past weekend, with Malins’ try ruled out against Italy.

Kyle Steyn joined teammate Van der Merwe at the top of the charts with his brace against Wales, while James Lowe dotted down for his second try of the competition against France.

Outside of the quartet, several players have scored just once.

Fast fact: Only two players have assisted more than two tries in the Championship so far, namely, Finn Russell (3, all against Wales) and Ireland prop Finlay Bealham (2, one against Wales and one versus France).

Top points scorers

France full-back Thomas Ramos took an early lead in the top marksman charts in round one, scoring 14 points against Italy.

He led the top points scorer charts by just two over Tommy Allan ahead of the second round of action, but another 14-point haul, against Ireland, has moved him nine points clear at the top.

Ramos slotted three penalties and a conversion before becoming the first player to land a drop goal in this year’s edition of the Six Nations before being replaced.

Ireland’s Johnny Sexton moved into joint second place along with Scotland’s Russell. The veteran Irish playmaker scored seven points (one penalty and two conversions) against France, while Russell landed two penalties and two conversions against Wales.

Allan now sits in fourth place after adding just four points to his total against England, and Owen Farrell is in fifth with 12 points.

Fast Fact: Scotland’s 28-point victory over Wales was their biggest-ever win over their rivals, bettering their 35-10 win in 1924.

Top tacklers

Three players are jostling at the top of the tackle count in the Six Nations, all of which remarkably made over 40 tackles in the first two rounds.

Topping the count is Scotland’s try scoring number eight against Wales, Matt Fagerson, who made 19 tackles in the historic victory over Wales. He made 26 in the opening match against England, taking his overall count to 45.

Hot on the heels of Fagerson is tireless French lock Thibaud Flament on 43, after a monumental shift against Ireland where he made 26 tackles without missing.

Flament’s fellow countryman is just one shy of him, with Anthony Jelonch backing up his 20 tackles against Italy up with 22 against Ireland.

There is a 10-tackle difference between Jelonch in third and Scotland’s Luke Crosbie in fourth.

Elsewhere, Lewis Ludlam topped the count for England with 22 tackles, just one ahead of Jack Willis, who made a stellar 21 tackles in just 53 minutes.

Fast Fact: Jonny Gray holds the record for the most tackles in a single edition of the Six Nations; he made 100 in 2018. Michele Lamaro (2022) and Tom Curry (2019) have the next-best tallies of 86.

Top carriers

After a hugely impressive performance against England, Italy’s Sebastian Negri (30) shares the top carrier stat with Finn Russell.

The Azzurri blindside flanker made 14 carries in round two, gaining 41 metres. Meanwhile, Russell made 11 carries against Wales, gaining 49 metres and completing two offloads.

The pair are closely followed by Ireland’s Caelan Doris and Hugo Keenan, both on 29, and Italy’s Ange Capuozzo and Allan on 27.

Keenan (17) made the most carries in round two, and Doris (16) made the second most. 

Fast Fact: Scotland averaged four points per entry into Wales’ 22; the best conversion rate in round two was Ireland’s 2.5 points per entry.

Most defenders beaten

“As far as Dupont and the two wingers are concerned, I don’t know if anyone tackled them throughout the full 80 minutes, to be honest,” Ireland head coach Andy Farrell said after his side defeated France.

His praise was certainly warranted, with the French speedster racking up impressive numbers in the match, collectively beating 20 defenders – aka tackle breaks – in the 80 minutes.

Damian Penaud’s 11 defenders beaten, and Ethan Dumortier’s nine individually would typically top the statistic. However, this was no ordinary weekend, with Capouzzo dominating the stat.

The Italian full-back breezed past an impressive 14 England defenders, bettering Penaud’s tally by three and the joint second-best from Dumortier and Van der Merwe.

In the end, Duhan van der Merwe still tops the static over two rounds with a tally of 20, with Capuozzo (17) in second and Penaud (15) third.

Fast Fact: Van der Merwe (31) holds the record for the most defenders beaten in a single Six Nations tournament; he beat Brian O’Driscoll’s record, set in 2000, of 30 in 2021.

Running metres

In round one, seven players gained over 100 metres across the three matches, which shrunk to six this week. However, there were higher tallies in round two.

No England and Wales players racked up over 100 metres, with two Ireland and Scotland players reaching the mark, with one from France and Italy.

Capuozzo topped the stat in round one with 114 metres and improved on that in round two with 127 against Italy.

While that is an impressive number, it was a long way off the best, with Penaud coming in third with 134 and Van der Merwe in second with 149.

Ireland’s Hugo Keenan claims top spot after gaining 205 metres against France, who takes his overall tally to 291, ahead of Van der Merwe (253).

Doris (117) was the only forward to gain over 100 metres in round two. Blair Kinghorn (110) was the only substitute.

Fast Fact: Ireland’s 13-point win margin over France is their best in a Five/Six Nations match since 1975 and is also their 13th straight home victory, their longest-ever such run.

Lineout wins

Federico Ruzza (15) continues to be Italy’s go-to man at the lineout and sits top of the competition for lineout wins.

The Azzurri lock is followed closely by England youngster Ollie Chessum (13) and Scotland veteran Richie Gray (12).

Ludlam (11) and Maro Itoje (9) complete the top five.

Fast Fact: Scotland have claimed four lineout steals in the opening two rounds; no other team has more than two.

READ MORE: Six Nations Team of the Week: Scotland and Ireland dominate again after outstanding wins in Round Two

England Duhan van der Merwe

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