It was another pulsating round of Guinness PRO14 action this weekend, with players having the opportunity to consolidate their early statistics and really start to establish a name for themselves in the competition. And it is still the resurgent Toyota Cheetahs who are leading the way in Conference A, continuing to augment their impressive early points tally after an eye-catching 40-16 win over Munster in Bloemfontein. Meanwhile, Scarlets were the top points scorers of the round after putting 54 past Zebre, while Ulster triumphed 42-17 at Isuzu Southern Kings and Leinster were similarly ruthless in dispatching Edinburgh 40-14. Cheetahs still leading the pack Franco Smith’s Cheetahs have come out of the blocks rapidly this season, accumulating no fewer than 151 points at a sizeable average of 50.3 per game. And that is largely down to the South African side being the pace setters in tries scored, going over 22 times during their opening three games and averaging 7.3 per match. Cheetahs’ attacking prowess has been simply too much for the trio of Glasgow Warriors, Ulster and Munster to handle, gaining an average of 500.3 metres in carries in each game and beating a mean of 34.7 defenders per match – five more than any other Guinness PRO14 team. And individually, it’s no surprise to see both Anthony Volmink – whose brilliant hat-trick helped see off Ulster last weekend – and Rhyno Smith make up two of the top three players ranked on metres gained, racking up 262 and 267 respectively and behind only Dragons’ Jordan Williams on 307. Smith has also beaten the second most defenders in the competition (16) behind Edinburgh’s Duhan van der Merwe (19), while Cheetahs’ Tian Schoeman has made three more offloads than any other Guinness PRO14 player with eight. While the extent to which they can maintain such offensive potency throughout the rest of the campaign – particularly away from fortress Bloemfontein – remains uncertain, one thing is for sure: Cheetahs are a team who will take some stopping this season. Most metres gained this season Jordan Williams 307 Rhyno Smith 267 Anthony Volmink 262 Matt Faddes 198 Johnny McNicholl 196
