Celtic Challenge: Player Rankings – Top Tens

The two Irish sides will be aiming to make home advantage count in round 4, a week on from their respective winning performances in Edinburgh, where the Wolfhounds won 50-12, and in Cardiff, the scene of the Clovers’ hard-fought 15-12 victory over Brython Thunder.

Looking at the Opta data collected by Stats Perform, Wolfhounds captain Aoife Dalton lit up their game against Edinburgh with one try, four line breaks, 13 defenders beaten, 120.9 metres made – and 91 post-contact metres – from 13 carries, and nine successful tackles.

Dannah O’Brien, the reigning champions’ player-of-the-match in the Scottish capital,  remains the competition’s top kicker out of hand so far this season. Her 58 kicks during the first three rounds have covered 1629.7 metres.

Try scorer India Daley and Maeve Óg O’Leary made double figures in both carries and tackles for the Wolfhounds, as did Dalton’s centre partner, Eve Higgins, who put in a team-high 19 tackles as well as carrying the ball ten times.

It was a big weekend for a couple of Waterford natives in the Irish teams. Wolfhounds winger Maggie Boylan crossed for her third try in as many outings, leaving her just one off the top of the try-scoring charts, while Aoibheann McGrath was the Clovers’ player-of-the-match.

Boylan is leading the Celtic Challenge statistics for running metres (326.8 metres), and is joint-second for line breaks (5). Promising lock McGrath provided a try assist against Brython Thunder and made all nine of her tackles on her first Celtic Challenge start.

Sadhbh McGrath impressed again for Denis Fogarty’s side, making 15 tackles, almost 50 post-contact metres, beating three defenders, and maintaining a 100% tackle success rate with 11 hits, just two behind Ella Burns and Jane Clohessy.

Clovers out-half Caitríona Finn kicked a crucial five points at the Arms Park, as well as making 62.7 metres from 12 carries. Navan’s Rosie Searle was in double figures for carries and tackles, and both players were involved in this week’s Ireland Women’s training camp.

Tickets for Sunday’s double header (Wolfhounds v Brython Thunder at 12pm, and Clovers v Glasgow Warriors at 3pm) are available to buy here from Ticketmaster.ie.

Both fourth round matches will be live on the TG4 Player, with separate coverage on the BBC iPlayer and the Celtic Challenge YouTube channel.

CELTIC CHALLENGE – PLAYER RANKINGS AFTER ROUND 3:

POINTS –

Carys Hughes (Gwalia Lightning) 20
Courtney Greenway (Gwalia Lightning) 20
Sky Phimister (Glasgow Warriors) 20
Caitríona Finn (Clovers) 17
Dannah O’Brien (Wolfhounds) 16
Hannah Smyth (Glasgow Warriors) 15
Maggie Boylan (Wolfhounds) 15
Aoife Dalton (Wolfhounds) 10
Cieron Bell (Edinburgh Rugby) 10
Eve Higgins (Wolfhounds) 10
Holland Bogan (Glasgow Warriors) 10
India Daley (Wolfhounds) 10
Jemima Adams Verling (Clovers) 10
Kelsie Webster (Gwalia Lightning) 10
Maisie Davies (Gwalia Lightning) 10
Molly Reardon (Gwalia Lightning) 10
Sadhbh McGrath (Clovers) 10
Sophie Barrett (Wolfhounds) 10
Tilly Vucaj (Gwalia Lightning) 10

TRIES –

Courtney Greenway (Gwalia Lightning) 4
Sky Phimister (Glasgow Warriors) 4
Hannah Smyth (Glasgow Warriors) 3
Maggie Boylan (Wolfhounds) 3
Aoife Dalton (Wolfhounds) 2
Cieron Bell (Edinburgh Rugby) 2
Eve Higgins (Wolfhounds) 2
Holland Bogan (Glasgow Warriors) 2
India Daley (Wolfhounds) 2
Jemima Adams Verling (Clovers) 2
Kelsie Webster (Gwalia Lightning) 2
Maisie Davies (Gwalia Lightning) 2
Molly Reardon (Gwalia Lightning) 2
Sadhbh McGrath (Clovers) 2
Sophie Barrett (Wolfhounds) 2
Tilly Vucaj (Gwalia Lightning) 2

KICKING ACCURACY (Minimum of one attempt every two games) –

Ffion Williams (Brython Thunder) 1 made/1 attempt – 100%
Caitríona Finn (Clovers) 8/10 – 80%
Ceitidh Ainsworth (Glasgow Warriors) 3/4 – 75%
Hannah Ramsay (Edinburgh Rugby) 3/4 – 75%
Rianna Darroch (Glasgow Warriors) 2/3 – 67%
Carys Hughes (Gwalia Lightning) 10/16 – 63%
Dannah O’Brien (Wolfhounds) 8/15 – 53%
Abby Moyles (Wolfhounds) 1/2 – 50%
Hanna Marshall (Brython Thunder) 2/5 – 40%
Nicole Marlow (Edinburgh Rugby) 1/3 – 33%

SUCCESSFUL TACKLES –

Jess Rogers (Brython Thunder) 57
Alex Stewart (Edinburgh Rugby) 51
Molly Reardon (Gwalia Lightning) 50
Elan Jones (Brython Thunder) 48
Natalia John (Brython Thunder) 48
Bryonie King (Gwalia Lightning) 47
Gemma Bell (Glasgow Warriors) 47
Natasha Logan (Edinburgh Rugby) 47
Branwen Metcalfe (Brython Thunder) 45
Merryn Gunderson (Edinburgh Rugby) 45

DOMINANT TACKLES –

Jess Rogers (Brython Thunder) 5
Maeve Óg O’Leary (Wolfhounds) 5
Nicole Flynn (Glasgow Warriors) 5
Stella Orrin (Brython Thunder) 5
Alex Stewart (Edinburgh Rugby) 4
Molly Poolman (Edinburgh Rugby) 4
Adelle Ferrie (Edinburgh Rugby) 3
Aila Ronald (Edinburgh Rugby) 3
Aoife Dalton (Wolfhounds) 3
Faith Oviawe (Clovers) 3
Holland Bogan (Glasgow Warriors) 3
Natalia John (Brython Thunder) 3
Poppy Garvey (Wolfhounds) 3
Seren Singleton (Brython Thunder) 3

CARRIES –

Molly Reardon (Gwalia Lightning) 46
Hannah Ramsay (Edinburgh Rugby) 42
Nicole Flynn (Glasgow Warriors) 42
Maisie Davies (Gwalia Lightning) 41
Bryonie King (Gwalia Lightning) 40
Sadhbh McGrath (Clovers) 38
Branwen Metcalfe (Brython Thunder) 37
Holland Bogan (Glasgow Warriors) 36
Jemima Adams Verling (Clovers) 35
Rachel Philipps (Edinburgh Rugby) 35

RUNNING METRES –

Maggie Boylan (Wolfhounds) 326.8
Bryonie King (Gwalia Lightning) 290.9
Nicole Flynn (Glasgow Warriors) 287.7
Hannah Walker (Edinburgh Rugby) 280.4
Courtney Greenway (Gwalia Lightning) 274
Sky Phimister (Glasgow Warriors) 273.3
Seren Singleton (Brython Thunder) 257.4
Cieron Bell (Edinburgh Rugby) 256.7
Molly Reardon (Gwalia Lightning) 256.6
Hannah Ramsay (Edinburgh Rugby) 252.3

KICKS –

Dannah O’Brien (Wolfhounds) 58
Hannah Ramsay (Edinburgh Rugby) 44
Caitríona Finn (Clovers) 37
Hanna Marshall (Brython Thunder) 37
Carys Hughes (Gwalia Lightning) 20
Sian Jones (Gwalia Lightning) 17
Beth Blacklock (Glasgow Warriors) 16
Ceitidh Ainsworth (Glasgow Warriors) 9
Ffion Williams (Brython Thunder) 9
Nicole Marlow (Edinburgh Rugby) 8
Stacey Flood (Wolfhounds) 8

KICKING METRES –

Dannah O’Brien (Wolfhounds) 1629.7
Caitríona Finn (Clovers) 1062.5
Hannah Ramsay (Edinburgh Rugby) 978.3
Hanna Marshall (Brython Thunder) 846.2
Carys Hughes (Gwalia Lightning) 738.7
Sian Jones (Gwalia Lightning) 419.3
Beth Blacklock (Glasgow Warriors) 417.6
Ceitidh Ainsworth (Glasgow Warriors) 342.2
Nicole Marlow (Edinburgh Rugby) 295.7
Briar McNamara (Glasgow Warriors) 245.5

OFFLOADS –

Anna McGann (Clovers) 6
Tilly Vucaj (Gwalia Lightning) 6
Alaw Pyrs (Gwalia Lightning) 5
Ceitidh Ainsworth (Glasgow Warriors) 5
Niamh Murphy (Clovers) 5
Beth Blacklock (Glasgow Warriors) 4
Bryonie King (Gwalia Lightning) 4
Catherine Richards (Gwalia Lightning) 4
Faith Oviawe (Clovers) 4
Gabby Healan (Brython Thunder) 4
Hannah Ramsay (Edinburgh Rugby) 4
Stacey Flood (Wolfhounds) 4

LINEBREAKS –

Hannah Smyth (Glasgow Warriors) 7
Aoife Dalton (Wolfhounds) 5
Courtney Greenway (Gwalia Lightning) 5
Maggie Boylan (Wolfhounds) 5
Seren Singleton (Brython Thunder) 5
Aoibheann Reilly (Wolfhounds) 4
Poppy Mellanby (Glasgow Warriors) 4
Sky Phimister (Glasgow Warriors) 4
Bryonie King (Gwalia Lightning) 3
Caitlin Lewis (Gwalia Lightning) 3
Catherine Richards (Gwalia Lightning) 3
Cieron Bell (Edinburgh Rugby) 3
Hannah Walker (Edinburgh Rugby) 3
India Daley (Wolfhounds) 3
Nikita Prothero (Gwalia Lightning) 3
Robyn O’Connor (Wolfhounds) 3

TACKLE BREAKS –

Hannah Ramsay (Edinburgh Rugby) 20
Nicole Flynn (Glasgow Warriors) 18
Aoife Dalton (Wolfhounds) 17
Béibhinn Parsons (Clovers) 16
Bryonie King (Gwalia Lightning) 16
Cieron Bell (Edinburgh Rugby) 15
Courtney Greenway (Gwalia Lightning) 14
Alaw Pyrs (Gwalia Lightning) 13
Maggie Boylan (Wolfhounds) 13
Aoibheann Reilly (Wolfhounds) 12

BREAKDOWN STEALS –

Maisie Davies (Gwalia Lightning) 6
Adelle Ferrie (Edinburgh Rugby) 2
Aila Ronald (Edinburgh Rugby) 2
Aoife Corey (Clovers) 2
Caoimhe Molloy (Wolfhounds) 2
Erin Jones (Gwalia Lightning) 2
Hannah Walker (Edinburgh Rugby) 2
Holland Bogan (Glasgow Warriors) 2
India Daley (Wolfhounds) 2
Jane Clohessy (Clovers) 2
Jemima Adams Verling (Clovers) 2
Merryn Gunderson (Edinburgh Rugby) 2
Natasha Logan (Edinburgh Rugby) 2
Sadhbh McGrath (Clovers) 2
Sian Jones (Gwalia Lightning) 2

ATTACKING RUCK ARRIVALS –

Natasha Logan (Edinburgh Rugby) 69
Aila Ronald (Edinburgh Rugby) 63
Jemima Adams Verling (Clovers) 62
Jess Rogers (Brython Thunder) 61
Merryn Gunderson (Edinburgh Rugby) 60
Branwen Metcalfe (Brython Thunder) 57
Elan Jones (Brython Thunder) 57
Jane Clohessy (Clovers) 57
Molly Reardon (Gwalia Lightning) 57
Tilly Vucaj (Gwalia Lightning) 57

DEFENSIVE RUCK ARRIVALS –

Molly Reardon (Gwalia Lightning) 34
Maisie Davies (Gwalia Lightning) 29
Catrin Stewart (Gwalia Lightning) 23
Jess Rogers (Brython Thunder) 20
Bryonie King (Gwalia Lightning) 18
Faith Oviawe (Clovers) 17
Sadhbh McGrath (Clovers) 16
Eve Higgins (Wolfhounds) 15
Holland Bogan (Glasgow Warriors) 15
Anwen Owen (Gwalia Lightning) 14
Gemma Bell (Glasgow Warriors) 14
Jemima Adams Verling (Clovers) 14
Maeve Óg O’Leary (Wolfhounds) 14
Natalia John (Brython Thunder) 14

LINEOUT TAKES –

Holland Bogan (Glasgow Warriors) 17
Adelle Ferrie (Edinburgh Rugby) 15
Erin Jones (Gwalia Lightning) 13
Natalia John (Brython Thunder) 13
Jane Clohessy (Clovers) 11
Aoibhe O’Flynn (Clovers) 9
Emily Coubrough (Glasgow Warriors) 8
Natasha Logan (Edinburgh Rugby) 8
Gwen Crabb (Brython Thunder) 7
Jemima Adams Verling (Clovers) 6
Maeve Óg O’Leary (Wolfhounds) 6

LINEOUT STEALS –

Holland Bogan (Glasgow Warriors) 4
Adelle Ferrie (Edinburgh Rugby) 3
Maisie Davies (Gwalia Lightning) 3
Naoise Smyth (Wolfhounds) 3
Emily Coubrough (Glasgow Warriors) 2
Erin King (Wolfhounds) 2
Aila Ronald (Edinburgh Rugby) 1
Charlotte Russell (Edinburgh Rugby) 1
Fiona Tuite (Wolfhounds) 1
Imogen Spence (Glasgow Warriors) 1
Jemima Adams Verling (Clovers) 1
Maeve Óg O’Leary (Wolfhounds) 1
Siobhán McCarthy (Clovers) 1

MINUTES PLAYED –

Anna McGann (Clovers) 240
Aoife Dalton (Wolfhounds) 240
Branwen Metcalfe (Brython Thunder) 240
Bryonie King (Gwalia Lightning) 240
Carys Hughes (Gwalia Lightning) 240
Cieron Bell (Edinburgh Rugby) 240
Emily Coubrough (Glasgow Warriors) 240
Hannah Ramsay (Edinburgh Rugby) 240
Hannah Walker (Edinburgh Rugby) 240
Holland Bogan (Glasgow Warriors) 240
Jemima Adams Verling (Clovers) 240
Jess Rogers (Brython Thunder) 240
Kelsie Webster (Gwalia Lightning) 240
Merryn Gunderson (Edinburgh Rugby) 240
Natalia John (Brython Thunder) 240
Nicole Flynn (Glasgow Warriors) 240
Poppy Mellanby (Glasgow Warriors) 240
Rachel Philipps (Edinburgh Rugby) 240
Sadhbh McGrath (Clovers) 240
Seren Singleton (Brython Thunder) 240
Sky Phimister (Glasgow Warriors) 160