Destructive Fijian super star, elusive France star and back-row workhorse ‘pressing for Springboks recall’

We examine the individual stat leaders and standout players from the action over the weekend and the entire tournament after the Investec Champions Cup round of 16.

In order to advance to the quarterfinals, Harlequins, Bulls, Exeter Chiefs, Bordeaux, Leinster, Northampton Saints, and Toulouse all won at home. La Rochelle was the only team to win away from home.

Many outstanding team and individual performances occurred throughout the thrilling weekend; with the aid of Oval Insights, we go over the latter and identify the stat leaders.

Stats for attacking: points, carries, meters, and defenders defeated
Jamison Gibson-Park, an Irish provincial, led the way for Leinster with three tries as the Irish province easily defeated Leicester Tigers 36–22 on Saturday night at Welford Road.

He led the points total from the action during the weekend with his 15-point performance. George Horne scored 14 points for Glasgow Warriors in their loss over Harlequins, including a try, a penalty, and three conversions. It was a successful weekend for the scrum-halves.

Mateo Garcia, meantime, stepped up to take Matthieu Jalibert’s place in a pivotal match, scoring 14 points (two tries included) in the team’s 45-12 victory over Saracens. Handre Pollard (12) and Marcus Smith (13) completed the top five scorers this weekend.

Gibson-Park had an influence off the field as well. This weekend, he had the greatest scrum-half total with 90 meters gained, five defenders defeated, and three clean breaks.

Ethan Roots, an England international who was just capped, not only scored a vital try in Exeter’s 21-15 victory over Bath Rugby, but he also was a willful carrier for the team, amassing 28 carries overall, which was the most of the weekend.

The number of carries for a backline player was 18 by Lyon winger Monty Ioane, one more than Toulouse’s Blair Kinghorn, while Root’s total eclipsed that of Leicester Tigers’ Jasper Wiese, who had 23.

Elrigh Louw, a back rower for the Bulls, is still pushing to be called up to the Springboks team. He put in another incredible effort, finishing in the top five for carries with a total of 17. He was also very efficient with the ball in hand, recording the most post-contact meters of any player in the round of 16.

George Hendy, a standout for the Northampton Saints, stole the show against Munster with his two goals off the bench, but James Ramm, another outside back, was equally impressive, gaining 127 meters with the ball in hand over the course of the weekend. The Stormers’ player of the match, Damian Willemse (111), Bordeaux star Louis Bielle-Biarrey (114), and Bulls and Springboks winger Kurt-Lee Arendse (119) were all chasing him.

Damian Penaud of Bordeaux terrorized the Saracens defense by beating 13 defenders. Although Ramm’s eight defenders against was a respectable total, it was clearly surpassed by Penaud’s.

In the meantime, Arendse avoided nine Lyon defenders, which was the third-best total of the weekend, and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso outran 12 Bath defenders.
Stats related to defense: turnovers and tackles won

Openside flanker Will Evans of Harlequins was one of the players who had to work the hardest to help the team advance to the Investec Champions Cup quarterfinals.

The 27-year-old made an incredible 22 tackles, including two strong ones, against the all-Scotland international back row, putting in a tremendous effort. This season, Evans has been the Famous Quarters’ go-to guy for turnovers. Against Glasgow, he managed two more.

Sam Underhill (21), Charlie Ewels (21), Curtis Langdon (20), and Quinn Roux (20) completed the top five tacklers from the weekend’s action. It was a busy weekend for the Premiership forwards.

Arendse wasn’t just the Bulls’ best offensive player; he also had four turnovers versus Lyon, which were matched by the center Alfred Parisien of the French team.

Levani Botia, a powerful player from Fiji and La Rochelle, forced three turnovers against the Stormers and made three strong tackles to help the reigning champions become the first visiting team to win a Champions Cup in South Africa.

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