There is just one South African and no players from defending champions the DHL Stormers in the Top 10 performers announced by the Vodacom United Rugby Championship on Thursday.
Then StatMaster applies an “expected points” algorithm to each event in games. Like “expected points added” in the NFL and “expected goals” 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.
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 winger at carrying.
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