The epically contested 2024 Rugby Championship wound to a close last weekend with the Springboks taking home their first title since their 2019 triumph.
With the dust having settled on this year’s edition we take a closer look at all the stats leaders from the various facets of the game.
Most points
All Blacks fly-half Damian McKenzie finished the tournament as the leading points scorer with a tally of 62, a full 18 points better than any other player. The playmaker, however, had easily the most game time out of the top five players as he started all but one Test.
Still, the pivot takes home the award on the back of a tricky campaign where he could never seem to do enough in the public eye to earn approval for the starting fly-half role.
Runners-up: Breakout Los Pumas star Tomas Albornoz finished second with 44 above compatriot and hero of round one Santiago Carreras with 36. Wallabies pivot Noah Lolesio and rising Springbok Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu round out the top five with 35 apiece.
Most tries
Another All Black leads the way in the form of the robust Caleb Clarke who scored six tries in the 2024 edition. The powerhouse winger crossed against every opposition which was headlined by braces against the Wallabies and Springboks along the way.
He had a very strong campaign from a personal standpoint where he usurped the slippery Mark Tele’a as the incumbent left wing in the famous black jersey.
Runners-up: Two tries behind Clarke is a backlog of players on four tries including All Black Will Jordan as well as Springboks duo Malcolm Marx and Aphelele Fassi. Juan Cruz Mallia, Mateo Carreras and Pieter-Steph du Toit all scored three tries.
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Carries
The first of the hard workers categories and yet another dominated by the All Blacks, with reigning Men’s World Rugby Player of the Year Ardie Savea unsurprisingly topping the charts with a whopping 89 carries.
Despite the tournament being quiet by Savea’s lofty standards the numbers still show that he is consistently effective regardless of how his team performs.
Runners-up: Wallabies skipper Harry Wilson notched up 73 while Pablo Matera (63), Pieter-Steph du Toit (57) and Mallia (54) complete the top carriers.
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Metres gained
Guess what… another category with an All Blacks leader and this time Jordan takes the top spot with 437 metres gained, which was over 100 more than anyone else.
Jordan grew into the campaign and was venomous near the back of the tournament as he worked out the cobwebs from a long injury lay-off. His lovely solo try in the final round would certainly have helped the cause.
Runners-up: Mateo Carreras made 314, followed by Clarke’s 300 while Fassi (292) and Albornoz (270) also feature in the top five.
Defenders beaten
The first category not topped by an All Black and probably one that could have easily been guessed. Springbok Cheslin Kolbe beat the most defenders with 21 during the tournament.
It really is no surprise as the wing was in vintage form this campaign as he danced around defenders, leaving so many on their knees looking for coins on the floor. Remarkably his tally was four ahead of anyone else and he did not play every Test. Quite possibly the world’s best wing.
Runners-up: Mateo Carreras features again alongside Len Ikitau, Savea and Jordan, all with 17.
Tackles
Another of the hard-workers club and this time Australia captain Wilson tops the pile with 86. Regardless of team or tournament, it is very common to see the red scrum cap near the right end of the tackle counts and he produced yet again.
His numbers in both the carry and tackle show that he leads through actions and by example as he did throughout.
Runners-up: Savea was close to Wilson with 84 while fellow Aussie Carlo Tizzano made an impressive 74 tackles despite not playing the back end of the championship. Tupou Vaa’i (72) and Marcos Kremer (71) complete the list.
READ MORE: World Rankings: Why the Springboks remain second despite winning the Rugby Championship
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