New Zealand All Blacks fullback Ben Smith in action during the Quarter Final between France and the All Blacks, held at Millennium Stadium. Photo / Brett Phibbs.
New Zealand All Blacks fullback Ben Smith in action during the Quarter Final between France and the All Blacks, held at Millennium Stadium. Photo / Brett Phibbs.
The All Blacks have climbed to the top of many of the tournament's individual statistics on the back of their brilliant attacking play in Sunday's stunning quarter-final performance against France.
After running in nine tries in their 62-13 win at Cardiff, the All Blacks' attacking prowess is reflected in thehigh rankings of outside back trio Ben Smith, Nehe Milner-Skudder and Julian Savea, across several categories.
Smith's irrepressible running game saw him top the metres gained category with 397m, while tournament leading try-scorer Savea was third with 389m, and Milner-Skudder came in sixth with 343m.
Smith's constant involvement saw him rank fourth for carries with 56, behind South Africa's Schalk Burger (80), Japan's Michael Leitch (60) and USA's Samu Manoa (57).
The Highlanders fullback also claimed second place in line breaks with 10, just one behind England's Anthony Watson, while his two wing-men, Milner-Skudder and Savea, sit fourth-equal on nine, and five-eighth Dan Carter comes in down the list with five.
The elusive running of Milner-Skudder sees him take second spot on the defenders beaten list, behind South Africa's Damian de Allande's 21, while blockbusting midfielder Ma'a Nonu and Savea come in down the tally with 13 and 12 respectively.
Sonny Bill Williams' ball skills sit him in second place on the offloads list, behind Fiji's Leone Nakarawa (26), while Carter is equal seventh with 14, followed by Sam Cane with 11.
Up front in the forwards, No8 Kieran Read's 22 lineout wins give him fifth spot and lock Sam Whitelock is ranked 17th with 13.
Read's aerial ability also sees him top the lineout steals with five for the tournament, with lock Brodie Retallick equal-second with four of his own.
The Wallabies continue to dominate the breakdown, and despite No8 David Pocock missing their quarter-final win over Scotland, he remains the most adept at pinching turnovers with 10 to his name thus far.
Read ranks as the most effective All Black thus far, having snared seven turnovers, while hooker Dane Coles trails with a respectable four.
