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Once the season starts, it doesn’t take long for the old rugby stats machine to go into overdrive. Two weeks into the Top 14 season some interesting figures are starting to emerge.
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Already, Toulouse are the only Top 14 side to boast a perfect record – though they have had the advantage of two home matches to kick off their campaign. We’ll have to see how they go when they hit the road for the first time next weekend. It won’t exactly be easy: they’re at defending champions Racing 92. For the record, three teams – Clermont, Toulouse and Racing – had two wins from two at this stage last season.
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The number of matches the previously almost permanently injured Leigh Halfpenny has managed faultless kicking performances. He landed five from five on the opening weekend for Toulon, and six from six on Saturday.
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The unusually high number of drawn matches in the first two rounds of the season. The opening weekend saw top-flight returnees Lyon draw 15-15 at home to Brive, while La Rochelle and Clermont could not be separated in a 60-point six-try encounter. Bayonne and Castres then drew 12-12 in a brutal battle of the defences on the second weekend.
3 (again)
Rocking-horse deposits, hens’ teeth and politicians with a conscience are more common than away wins in the Top 14, so accepted knowledge has it. And, the first weekend appeared to bear that out, with no wins on the road – but sides are starting to play catch-up. There were three away wins last weekend, to La Rochelle, Clermont and Toulon.
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Super Rugby fans complained mightily about changes to the bonus-points system introduced at the start of last season, but Top 14 watchers are well used to the three-tries-ahead idea, while losing BPs are only awarded if teams finish within five points of each other. So far, defences are ruling the roost: five defensive BPs have been won in close encounters, compared to just two attacking BPs.
8
Starting the season with two losses is bad enough, but Grenoble’s losing streak in the Top 14 extends back another six games last season. Their defeat at home to La Rochelle on Saturday was their eighth on the bounce. Their last win was at Oyonnax on April 2.
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13
The number of French players in the Montpellier matchday squad over the opening two weekends. It would have been 12, but Marvin O’Connor – who is properly French despite his name and Australian heritage – was a late addition to the teamsheet on the opening weekend after Cypriot Demitri Catrakilis was forced to withdraw.
14
The number of French players the LNR says should be in EVERY Top 14 matchday squad.
15
The number of South African players in the Montpellier matchday squad over the opening two weekends.
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26
The number of times referees have brandished a card (of either colour) so far this season. A total 24 yellows have been issued, and two reds. Castres’ Rory Kockott holds the dubious honour of picking up the first red of the season, for stamping 18 minutes into the opening match against Pau. Brive managed to lose four players to the sin bin in 10 minutes of madness against Stade on Saturday, but still held on to win.
40
The number of points scored by Brive’s points machine Gaetan Germain. The man who has topped the Top 14 points table over the past two seasons notched up 25 points in the weekend’s 28-20 win over Stade Francais, including six penalties and a try – which he also converted for good measure. That’s on top of the five penalties he knocked over on the opening weekend. He tops the points table, one ahead of Stade’s Jules Plisson, who scored 10 of their 20 points, to go with the 29 he racked up against Grenoble the previous week.
44
Unlike away wins, tries have been hard to come by, with just 44 scored in the first 14 matches. You have to hope that figure rises quickly as players and teams remember that scoring tries is what they’re supposed to do. So far, three matches have ended try-less, which is hardly a ringing endorsement of the richest league in rugby.
518
That would be the number of days between wins on the road for La Rochelle. Their 22-18 win at Grenoble in the second round was their first away victory since they squeaked home 22-21 at Bordeaux on March 28, 2015.
