Vereniki Goneva made more metres than any other player in the opening round of this season's Champions Cup, according to statisics from Opta.The Leicester Tigers wing made 131 metres in Friday’s 33-20 victory over Stade Francais at Welford Road, 10 metres more than second-placed Dan Evans of the Ospreys.
Goneva, who scored Tigers’ first try of the night against Top 14 champions Stade, also beat seven defenders during the game, second only to Jack Nowell of Exeter Chiefs. Goneva’s Tigers teammate Owen Williams beat five defenders during the game, putting him joint sixth in the Opta stats after Round One.
The try was Goneva’s 30th in Tigers colours, putting him alongside Jordan Crane as the leading scorer in the current squad. Matt Smith is third with 28 tries for Tigers, Ben Youngs has 27 and Tom Croft has 26.
Brendon O’Connor, who made his Tigers debut in the game, won four turnovers, more than any other player. Smith and Mike Williams won two turnovers each, putting them joint fifth in the Opta stats after Round One.
Mike Fitzgerald won six lineouts, with only four players across Round One winning more. Interestingly, Stade Francais lock Paul Gabrillagues completed 18 tackles in the game, a figure which was beaten only by Dan Lydiate (21 tackles) and James King (20 tackles) of the Ospreys against Exeter.
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Opta stats put Niki out in front
18 November 2015 1:03 PM

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