'Ambitious': Boks put in the hard yards on attack

STAT ATTACK: The first two rounds of the Rugby Championship are done and dusted and some interesting stats have emerged.

The Springboks lead the way in the standings with a maximum of 10 points after two bonus-point wins over the Wallabies in Australia.

There has been a spotlight on South Africa's attack ever since former All Black flyhalf Tony Brown took charge of that department.

Australia might not be the strongest opposition this year, but the Boks showed how to stamp their authority with ball in hand.

According to Opta Stats, after two rounds "the Springboks have the best gainline success rate of any side in the 2024 Rugby Championship [60 percent]".

As a result, they "have gained the most metres per carry [3.9] and the most metres overall [927] of any team in the competition".

The Springboks will face sterner opposition in the form of the All Blacks in the next two rounds, which could impact those stats going forward.

Meanwhile, the Argentinians have also made their presence felt in the tournament when they kicked off their campaign with a 38-30 win over the All Blacks in Wellington.

They were brought back down to earth a week later with a 10-42 defeat in Auckland, but they are still leaders in key areas of the game.

"Los Pumas have won a greater share of their attacking rucks than any other side in the 2024 Rugby Championship [97.1 percent]," said Opta.

"They have also won more jackal turnovers than any other side in the competition [six] in addition to averaging the most metres gained per maul [3.9]."

Despite their troubles, the Wallabies also feature in key stat categories.

"Of the 37 players to have made 10+ carries in the Rugby Championship, Len Ikitau is the only one to have committed two or more tacklers from 100 percent of his carries and is one of just four with a 50 percent or more dominant carry rate [50 percent, also Will Jordan, Joaquín Oviedo and Santiago Carreras]," Opta explained.

Meanwhile, "Carlo Tizzano has been successful from 35/35 tackle attempts in the Rugby Championship, the most of any player yet to miss one, with only Ethan Blackadder making more tackles overall [40]; he has also hit more rucks than any other player in the competition [60]".