Rhys Priestland leads EPCR Challenge Cup’s top scorers

Points – Rhys Priestland (41)

Fly-half Priestland played a key role as Cardiff Rugby booked a place in the Round of 16, converting 14 of their 23 tries, as well as kicking one penalty and crossing the whitewash twice himself.

In his debut EPCR campaign, Jordan Hendrikse is Priestland’s nearest challenger in terms of points, amassing 34 over three games for Emirates Lions, including a vital haul of 20 in their Round 4 win (30-25) at Dragons RFC.

Sam Costelow was the leading scorer after Round 2 as he tallied 29 points, but Leigh Halfpenny took over kicking duties for Scarlets in their last two pool stage games.

Following the conclusion of the EPCR Challenge Cup pool stage and ahead of the Round of 16, we’re looking at which players are leading the scoring charts so far.

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Tries – Steff Evans (5)

Wing Evans contributed almost a third of Scarlets’ tries as they topped Pool B, crossing in each of their four games, including a brace in their Round 2 win (45-26) at Toyota Cheetahs.

No other player matched Evans’ five tries in the pool stage, with Connacht Rugby’s Finlay Bealham, who scored a hat-trick at Newcastle Falcons in Round 4, CA Brive’s Kevin Fabien and Cardiff Rugby’s Josh Adams all going over four times.

Goalkicking % – Rhys Priestland (92.8%)

Priestland also leads the way when it comes to goalkicking accuracy, dissecting the posts with 15 of 16 place-kicks so far for a 92.8%-success rate.

The 36-year-old’s only miss came in Round 2, when he was unable to convert Adams’ opening try in Cardiff’s 47-10 victory at Newcastle.

Costelow is the only other player with a goalkicking percentage of more than 90 following the pool stage, hitting the target 13 times from 14 attempts.