Goodnews :Springboks star retains number one spot in URC’s top 100 list with Italian in second place

Springboks loosehead prop Steven Kitshoff has clearly settled in to life at Ulster as he currently leads the top 100 player chart in the United Rugby Championship (URC).

In the most recent URC top 100, which is based on results from the URC, EPCR tournaments, World Cup, and international rugby, he continues to hold the top slot.

When the table was last released in September, Prop Kitshoff was ranked first, and he has remained there thanks to his efforts for Ulster and his role in the Springboks’ Rugby World Cup victory.

The former Stormers forward, in the company of fellow Springbok Eben Etzebeth and Leinster hooker Dan Sheehan, is the most recent Test great to top the rankings.

Forwards dominate the top spots

The top five places are again all occupied by forwards, as was the case in September.

Young Benetton flanker Manuel Zuliani is in second spot, with Wales World Cup captain Jac Morgan having shot up from 39th to third.

The ever consistent Sheehan lies fourth, with prop Ox Nche fifth, closely followed by his Sharks team-mate Etzebeth.

Bulls wing Canan Moodie is the highest-placed back in seventh, while the leading Scottish performer is new Six Nations co-captain Rory Darge.

The top 20 features seven South Africans, six Irish, three Scots, three Italians and one Welshman in Ospreys flanker Morgan. There are 16 forwards and just the four backs.

Powered by the StatMaster xP algorithm, the top 100 identifies the most valuable performers across the 16 URC teams by analysing every match they have appeared in during the last 12 months.

Then StatMaster applies an “expected points” (xP) algorithm to each event in those games. Like “expected points added” (EPA) in the NFL and “expected goals” (xG) in football, this revolutionary new stat measures the impact each player has on his side’s chance of scoring. It is based on the idea that rugby is a team game and while the player who slots the ball through the posts or touches it down deserves plenty of credit, so do the 14 others who helped create that opportunity.

For example, a player can gain points by doing things that increase his team’s probability of claiming the next score, such as crashing past defenders, nailing a 50/22 kick, earning a scrum penalty or even winning a crucial turnover on his own try-line.

On the other hand, if he makes a costly error, he can lose points. Crucially, the algorithm adjusts for lots of match factors, including a player’s position, his location on the field, the phase type, the time on the clock and the quality of his team-mates and opponents.

All this allows URC StatMaster to give the most accurate data-driven estimates of how much players are currently contributing to their teams.

The ratings can also be broken into skill types, so you can look at the best prop at scrummaging, the best flanker at defending, the best fly-half at goal kicking or the best wing at carrying.

All the ratings have been scaled so an average URC player scores 80, with the very best performers in the league reaching over 90. As an illustration, Kitshoff is on 96.2, with his nearest rival Zuliani on 95.8.

As the season progresses and players shuffle in and out of the top 100, StatMaster will analyse the biggest movers and shakers.

URC top 100 (top 10)

1. Steven Kitshoff (Ulster)

2. Manuel Zuliani (Benetton)

3. Jac Morgan (Ospreys)

4. Dan Sheehan (Leinster)

5. Ox Nche (Sharks)

6. Eben Etzebeth (Sharks)

7. Canan Moodie (Bulls)

8. Garry Ringrose (Leinster)

9. Finlay Bealham (Connacht)

10. Jack Conan (Leinster)