[Article] Best of the Bot Bashing

Two weeks of the cup have come and gone and we've had some glorious bot bashing. We've taken a look at all 700ish fixtures and thought to highlight some of the best performances we've seen. [split]

Biggest Wins
The Varangian Guards posted the biggest score so far against a bot with this nice 185-0 win. Close on their heels was the Hautapu Hopefools and Old McDonald Had A Farm who got 184-0 and 183-0 wins respectively. Everyone is a few tries short of the 200-0 victory.

Hat-trick of Hat-tricks
Weylin Sex of the Bald Eagle Bombers celebrated the first week of the season with 9 tries against their bot opponent. It was quite a moment for the 20 year old who -- despite three seasons with the Bombers -- has only played 19 matches for his club. He hoped to follow up the next week but could only manage three tries before hobbling off with injury. That's now how you impress the selectors Weylin!

A handful of players had managed to get 8 tries in a match but we thought we'd single out the 32 year old Callum Rideout from Climate of Fear. He's scored eight tries in both matches so far. Rideout is a lifetime Climate of Fear player -- he was born in their academy and has been with the side since he was 17 in season 9.

Kicking up a storm
Alex Loftus, a name you might remember from the NZ U20 squad back in Season 21 & 22 scored an impressive 82 points in week two for his club side, Carnage. That came from 6 tries, 20 conversions, and 2 penalties.

Current All Black Gene Trett, of the Hamilton Canucks was right behind with his haul of 81 points (also in week 2)

Also interesting, Eliot Davis from BallDontLie has picked up the biggest haul of points once you don't factor in tries with a 78 point haul in week one. 63 of which came from the boot. (15 conversions and 11 penalties)

Obvious question, why the heck are you scoring 11 penalties against a bot? Davis is also the captain of the squad, so was he content to get some kicking practise in? We hope this is bought up at the next meeting in BallDontLie HQ.

Attacking Wonders
Breaking the line should be an easy affair though for one player to do it 11 times in one match is certainly an achievement. Diarmuid Shannon, of Barbecued Duck definitely found it easy to shred the opponent from the No. 14 position. Shannon is a new arrival at the Duck but was definitely keen to make an impact in his first cap for the club.

Shannon also managed to gain 420m that game (4.2 rugby fields), an achievement only bettered by Elbanditos player Joni Brownjohn who grabbed 435m in the second week. Brownjohn's exploits included 8 tries and 4 try assists.

6,732 players (not including the bots) have taken to the field in the last two weeks. Of those players 4,861 have managed to get score at least one try. It's certainly a good time to be a lower-tier player.

Of those 6,732 players. Here are our top point and try scorers so far.

Top Point Scorers
1. Arend Dikgale (Otago Vikings) -- 145
2. Gene Trett (Hamilton Canucks) -- 144
3. Alex Loftus (Carnage) -- 142
4. Marama Nalatu (Wetaskiwin Wolves) -- 133
5. Jerome Tebow (Icemen) -- 132
6. Simon Seales (Millennium Falcons) -- 130
6. Francis Cooke (The Night's Watch) -- 130
8. Andy Lazar (Arsenal) -- 129
9. Lanfranco Parodi (Naki Boys) -- 128
10. Lester Agnew (Swedeaters) -- 127

Top Try Scorers
1. Callum Rideout (Climate Of Fear) -- 16
2. Steven Elias (Piss Artists) -- 13
3. Weylin Sex (Bald Eagle Bombers) -- 12
3. Andy Winn (Oamaru Tidalwaves) -- 12
5. Mikheil Saginashvili (Blue Thunder) -- 11
5. Riccardo Sbaglica (Binge-drinking Ballbags) -- 11
5. Joni Brownjohn (Elbanditos) -- 11
5. Reia Paku (Oamaru Tidalwaves) -- 11
5. Fabrizio Sirmioni (Southland Development XV) -- 11
5. Theodore MacGibbon (Tasman Tigers) -- 11

WHAT AN ARTICLE bREN! oops caps lock.
Great stuff, thanks for the write-up

Thanks Bren!

Very nice!