Who were the best players in the Rugby Championship 2013?
The Rugby Championship 2013 is over and here is the team based on statistics from the fantasy rugby game www.testrugby.com. Selection for this Team of the Rugby Championship is based on average score per game from statistics and managers are only required to pick a 12 man team.
Ben Smith was the highest average points scorer in the Rugby Championship. He scored 352 points per game and a total of 2115 points from eight tries, 32 go forwards, 12 line breaks, 14 tackles and 9 catches of kicks.
Kieran Read averaged 317 points per game or 1900 points in total from three tries, 45 tackles, 28 go forwards, 19 lineouts, 10 catches of kicks and 8 turnovers.
Aaron Cruden was the only other player to average over 300 points per game.
The Rugby Championship Team of the Competition
Player Name Pos Team Games Total Avg Price
Adriaan Strauss FR SAF 6 1335 222 $1,090,000
Bismarck du Plessis FR SAF 6 1300 217 $1,275,000
Eben Etzebeth LK SAF 6 1295 216 $1,182,500
James Horwill LK AUS 4 900 225 $1,125,000
Kieran Read LF NZL 6 1900 317 $1,225,000
Duane Vermeulen LF SAF 6 1720 287 $1,172,500
Aaron Cruden HV NZL 3 905 302 $1,157,500
Morne Steyn HV SAF 6 1365 228 $1,242,500
Jean de Villiers CT SAF 6 1630 272 $1,157,500
Conrad Smith CT NZL 6 1340 223 $1,170,000
Ben Smith OB NZL 6 2115 352 $1,245,000
Israel Folau OB AUS 6 1685 281 $1,185,000
The Rugby Championship Team of the Competition would be too expensive to afford while staying under the salary cap. The team features 6 Springboks, 4 All Blacks and 2 Wallabies. This could be as much to do with more consistent team selections than anything else.
My actual Rugby Championship Team of Competition would be
1 Tendai Mtawarira
2 Bismarck du Plessis
3 Jannie du Plessis
4 Eben Etzebeth
5 Sam Whitelock
6 Juan Manuel Leguizamon
7 Michael Hooper
8 Kieran Read
9 Aaron Smith
10 Aaron Cruden
11 Bryan Habana
12 Jean De Villiers
13 Conrad Smith
14 Ben Smith
15 Israel Folau
Michael Hooper and Israel Folau really stood out for the Wallabies and although Richie McCaw is awesome, he barely played in the Rugby Championship this season and was beaten to the breakdown in the opening game against the Wallabies. Israel Folau was brilliant at fullback for the Wallabies, especially against Argentina and gets the nod ahead of Dagg who had a quiet championship. Leguizamon was good in a beaten Pumas team. Luatua was great in his few appearances but didn't play enough to really cement a place in my book. Will Genia was probably the biggest disappointment this season after getting benched by coach Ewen McKenzie.
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