Waldrom helps lead the charge

By Steve Grace
30/5/17

It was a team effort from Exeter Chiefs to claim their maiden Aviva Premiership Rugby title on Saturday at Twickenham, but from looking at the OPTA rankings it’s impossible to ignore the contribution of No.8 Thomas Waldrom.

Absent at this stage a year ago through injury, Waldrom racked up a scarcely believable 37 carries, the most since the stat was first recorded nearly a decade ago.

While he had 100 minutes to achieve it as Chiefs won 23-20 after extra-time, it was still a remarkable feat for Waldrom, who made 106 metres with ball in hand, behind only team-mate Olly Woodburn (129) and Wasps centre Jimmy Gopperth (122).

Waldrom’s back-row partner Don Armand was named man-of-the-match, and called up by England on Monday, and a quick look at the stats shows why.

The Zimbabwe-born flanker produced a great all-round display, with 19 carries, 10 tackles, four lineout takes, the same number of defenders beaten and one crucial turnover.

For Wasps, Aviva Premiership Rugby Player of the Season Jimmy Gopperth showed just why he won that award with a stellar display both in attack and defence.

The Kiwi certainly didn’t deserve to be on the losing side on a day when he made five clean breaks – three more than the next best – racked up 22 tackles, also the most of the Final, was second in metres made and defenders beaten, and even managed a couple of turnovers.

Above all, the stats demonstrate that Exeter had more of the ball overall, Wasps had 13 of the top 14 tacklers, while Chiefs dominated in terms of metre-makers and carries.

A special mention also needs to go to Geoff Parling, who claimed 11 lineouts in his final appearance for the Chiefs, playing a key role in their eventual success.