We look at the stats from round 17 of the Guinnes PRO12

We take a look at all the telling stats from round 17 of the Guinness PRO12, including which individuals made the most tackles and kicked the most in open play.

Tackles

Connacht lost painfully in the latter stages of their game against Cardiff Blues which cost them dearly in the overall standings of the PRO12, but the numbers show what kind of game it was. All three of the top tacklers from the weekend came from that game, with Mick Kearney and Tom McCartney topping the table over the weekend.

With No 8 Josh Navidi in third place, the forwards were called upon heavily in Cardiff Arms Park to keep both sides in the game. Fourth place, unsurprisingly, came from that game as Kearney's lock partner on the day, Alistair Muldowney, put in 17 tackles in Cardiff.

Carries

The Leinster trip to Llanelli was an important one for the Irish side. With the way the table appeared by the end of the week a win for Leinster would have propelled them into the vital top four section which, with only five rounds to go, would have been invaluable.

It was to be the day of the Scarlets though, as Scott Williams - in his first appearance for the region in six weeks, ran the midfield raged with 18 carries. He was closely followed by the trio of Josh Navidi, Dan Baker, and Craig Gilroy. With Navidi also appearing in the top three for tackles, it was a good day out for the loose forward.

Metres gained

Tied-second for carries for round 17, Craig Gilroy was in impressive form as he ran for an average of nine metres per carry at Rodney Parade. The winger scored two tries - the second of which came in the closing minutes and enforced a troubled finish for the hosts who only just got over the line in the end.

Edinburgh's Matt Scott will have been disappointed by how hard his team needed to work in order to beat Treviso in Italy, but his own efforts on the day were important as he dotted down twice for his club. Hallam Amos of Dragons proved his value with 92 metres gained against Gilroy's Ulster. 

Defenders beaten

Familiar names in the list as Craig Gilroy once again makes an appearance. Easy to see why the talented back was able to score two tries past a frugal Dragon defence when he was able to beat ten defenders during 17 carries. He had a slightly better average than Scott Williams who beat eight defenders in his 18 carries.

Glasgow's Nikola Matawalu got past the efforts of seven defenders with his 12 carries as he helped his team to a bonus-point win that sent them to the summit of the PRO12 table.

Kicks in play

There was plenty of kicking at Rodney Parade as both the team's fly-halves made use of the boot all afternoon. The Dragons' Dorian Jones kicked 16 times in open play while Humphries put boot to ball on 11 occasions.

In fact, the rest of the top five included Ruan Pienaar and Carl Mayer - who was a late inclusion in the side but inspired his team to victory with a brilliant game at full-back - both of whom kicked ten times. Sam Davies of the Ospreys, who slotted 21 points to help his side to a win, kicked 12 times in open play.