As the second season in the Swalec Championship comes to a finish, we take a look back at the Championship season in numbers.
Where better a place to start than champions Ebbw Vale, who topped the table on 122 points with their only defeat coming on the final day of the season away at Narberth.
Despite the final day loss, the statistics prove the Steelmen were head and shoulders about the other teams in the league. The Steelmen scored over a thousand points, helped by their 151 try haul, making Jason Strange’s troops the most potent side in the league. The Eugene Cross Park outfit also had the meanest defence with just 20 tries conceded against them all season.
Meanwhile, impressive newcomers RGC 1404 were the only other team to cross for over 100 tries as they touched down 113 times throughout the course of the season, a tally that helped them secure third spot.
The Steelmen’s flanker Ronny Kynes took home the accolade of the division’s top try scorer, touching down 18 times in all. Kynes was also the only player to cross four times in a single match thanks to a four try haul against Blackwood.
Team mates Wes Cunliffe and Dai James were just behind Kynes with 15 tries to their name, while in testament to their strong pack they also notched up 13 penalty tries. Bargoed came next in the penalty try stakes as they were awarded eight, while Bonymaen were the only side not to be awarded a penalty try all season.
At the other end of the table Bonymaen managed to notch up just 294 points, with themselves and fellow relegated side Beddau having the leakiest defence in the league, conceding 103 tries apiece. However, Blackwood were the team that conceded the most number of points with 773 points scored against the Glan Yr Afon outfit.
In the battle for the top scores it was Narberth’s Ianto Griffiths who came out on top as the fly half amassed 304 points, meaning Griffiths scored more than the whole of the Bonymaen team all season. Griffiths was on target with an amazing 54 conversions, 37 penalties and also slotted seven drop goals as well as crossing the whitewash on three occasions.
Ebbw’s Iain Smerdon came runner up in the race for top points scorer as he notched up 229 points, including nine tries closely followed by Llanharan’s Codey Rees on 192 points. Altogether, eleven players crossed the 100 points barrier with Cardiff Met the only team to have two players to do so in centre Chris Lewis (164) and fly-half Mark Cooke (150).
Swalec Championship Top Scorers
1. I Griffiths 304 pts (Narberth); 2. I Smerdon 229 pts (Ebbw Vale); 3. C Rees 192 pts (Llanharan); 4. S Lewis 190 pts (Bridgend Athletic); 5. J Prosser 170 pts (Bargoed); 6. C Gullis 166 pts (Pontypool); 7. C Lewis 164 pts (Cardiff Met); 8. G Powell 160 pts (Tondu); 9. M Cooke 150 pts (Cardiff Met); 10. S Evans 134 pts (Tata Steel); 11. R Cunniffe 101 pts (Bonymaen)
Top Try Scorers
1. R Kynes 18 tries (Ebbw Vale); 2. N Brooks (Bonymaen), W Cunliffe and D James (Ebbw Vale) 15 tries; 3. T Dyer (Newbridge), H Evans (RGC 1404) and C Lewis (Cardiff Met) 13 tries.
*Figures taken from information received from clubs throughout the season 2013/14
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