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Breakout performance for Andrew Kellaway sees him star in the Premiership's Round 5 RPI moves
By Alex Shaw
The fifth round of Gallagher Premiership action saw some significant rotation of squads with European competition and international rugby both looming on the horizon and, as such, there were a number of unexpected risers on the RugbyPass Index (RPI) this past weekend.
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Northampton Saints’ Andrew Kellaway was the biggest riser, after he replaced an injured Piers Francis in the 13th minute of Saints’ game with Bristol Bears. Kellaway grabbed a try, but it was his repeated ability to break the line which culminated in his rise of 10.01% to an RPI score of 52 which, although relatively low, should continue to rise as he works his way into Northampton’s regular starting XV.
Another significant increase came in the form of Saracens’ Titi Lamositele, who made the most of the absences of Vincent Koch and Juan Figallo. He scored steadily in both his scrum and lineout work, but it was his influence in the two minutes prior to Saracens’ ‘winning moments’ that really saw his RPI rise. The tighthead now sits at 67 on the RPI, a rise of 8.62%.
Nizaam Carr also had a strong showing at the weekend, with the Wasps man seeing his RPI shoot up by 7.08% to 74 overall, helped strongly by a good passing game and his influence in Wasps’ attacking situations. Alex Cuthbert was another prominent name to do well on the weekend, with the Welshman standing out in attack and with his try-saving defence, which saw his RPI score move to 78, a rise of 6.74%.
Other big winners from the weekend included Sean Lonsdale (+6.67% to 70), Nic Stirzaker (+6.31% to 49), Harry Williams (+5.48% to 80) and Ben White (+6.89% to 47), proving that at least something positive came out of the Leicester Tigers vs Sale Sharks error-ridden display on Sunday.
There was a shift of the power at the top, as a 0.2% increase for Owen Farrell and a 0.36% decrease for Maro Itoje saw the fly-half regain top spot in the RPI, albeit with both still scored at 93 overall. Jonny Hill broke into the top three for the first time this season, and his 0.21% increase kept him steady at 92 overall, whilst Sam Simmonds drop of 0.8% saw him fall to 91 and out of the top three.
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Unfortunately, whenever there are risers, there also have to be fallers.
Wasps’ Michael le Bourgeois couldn’t match the same influence he had against Sale Sharks when he took on Newcastle Falcons this week and his RPI dropped to 64, a decrease of 8.32%. It was a similar situation for Leicester Tigers’ Jordan Olowofela, who saw a 6.78% fall to 58, in a fairly flat Leicester performance at Welford Road.
A number of players saw their RPI fall as a result of spots on the bench, including Billy Twelvetrees (-7.56% to 69), Harry Mallinder (-7.37% to 55) and Franco Marais (-6.67% to 64).
Check out all of the RPI moves for Round 5 here.
Watch: The Rugby Pod discuss the challenges faced by players retiring from the game.
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