A few days before the semi-final, the statistics confirm the excellent season achieved by Montpellier. Iron defense, rediscovered discipline, domination in combat zones or even the regularity of Tom Banks…: overview of the figures which marked the 2025-2026 financial year for the Héraultais.
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1908 : Banks, la machine tireless  Â
He is one of the recruits of the season, if not the major recruit of the 2025-2026 financial year. Not that Tom Banks’ talent was unknown to the general public or specialists, but rather because the Australian had been playing for three years in Japan, where the competitiveness of the championship is not the main quality. Since his arrival in Hérault, the international full-back (22 caps) has made everyone agree. Beyond his qualities, Banks showed impressive consistency. Proof of this is his playing time in the Top 14: 1,908 minutes, which makes him the player most used by Joan Caudullo. If he participated in the entire first part of the season, he was more preserved during the return phase. To arrive even stronger in the semi-final?
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264 : Bécognée, la machine à plaquer
The best tackler of the Montpellier season is called Alexandre Bécognee. The third line (29 years old) made 264 tackles throughout the season, or 12.6 per game on average. It is certainly far from the best in this area, the Lyonnais Théo Millet (336), but the MHR is only the seventh team which tackles the most over the entire regular season.
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9.5: the aggressive but disciplined MHR
This Montpellier team is described as tough, difficult to maneuver and a serious candidate for the Brennus Shield. What we often forget to emphasize is that its positive aggressiveness goes hand in hand with a certain discipline. On average, the MHR concedes 9.5 penalties per match. This is the second best total in the championship behind Stade Toulouse (9.1) as the semi-finals approach, this statistic is far from trivial.
- Billy Vunipola: most sanctioned player on the team
Still in the discipline register, Billy Vunipola is the Montpellier player most penalized of the season with 19 penalties conceded. Bad student? Not necessarily, when we know that he is only 19th among the most penalized players in the championship. Moreover, if many front-line players appear in this ranking, no pillar or hooker from Hérault appears there. Further proof of the reliability of the Montpellier scrum.
Read also: “The Coach 97 on PC, I sanded it, I loved it”: a day in the footsteps of Joan Caudullo, manager of Montpellier
16: Verhaeghe, the weapon of touchÂ
Florian Verhaeghe’s season is remarkable in many ways. Particularly in the key sector. The second line of the MHR is the third player who has stolen the most opposing balls this season (16), behind Cameron Woki (17) and the Palois Hugo Auradou (23). His partner Yacouba Camara also stole 13 rounds from an opponent’s throw, making Montpellier’s defensive line one of the most formidable in the championship.
Verhaeghe is also a fine specialist in post-contact play. With 32 successful offloads, he occupies ninth place in the ranking, just behind Matthieu Jalibert. He is also the only Montpellier present in the top 10, where there are only three forwards. Powerful, aggressive in the good sense of the word, Verhaeghe is also capable of making plays after him. One more string to the bow of the former Toulouse player, author of the best season of his career.
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196: Ali Price, the metronome on his feet
With 196 kicking plays made this season, Ali Price is on the Top 14 podium behind Plummer and Carbonneau. The Scottish scrum-half averages 9.3 kicks per game. An essential element in the occupation of land and territorial control in Montpellier.
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2000: Banks, the back who always advances
We mentioned above the remarkable regularity of Tom Banks. The Australian is the third player to gain the most meters with the ball in hand since the start of the season (2,000). In front of him are two very talented attackers: Matthieu Jalibert (2,085) and Davit Niniashvili (2,171). Two essentially offensive profiles, which makes Banks’ performance even more remarkable.
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79: Montpellier, bad student against the poles
This is undoubtedly one of the least flattering statistics of the MHR as the semi-finals approach. Since the start of the season, Montpellier’s scorers have had a 79% success rate against poles, a percentage lower than the Top 14 average (81%) and the lowest of the four semi-finalists. However, Domingo Miotti is the third best scorer in the championship with 240 points. The precision of the scorers will be one of the keys to the final phase. It remains to be seen whether the people of Hérault will adjust their sights at the right time.
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9: Tolofua, supersub best scorer
Christopher Tolofua has only started 32% of league games this season. However, it was he who finished as the club’s top scorer with nine tries scored. With the French international, Joan Caudullo has a supersub capable of changing the course of a match in the second half.
Read also: “I’m so excited to be in Marseille!” : for Montpellier, the emotion after the fight
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587: la feroce défense héraultaise
With 587 points conceded since the start of the season, Montpellier has the best defense in the championship, ahead of Toulouse (617), La Rochelle (634) and Stade français (664). The MHR is the only team to have remained below the 600 points conceded mark, or less than 23 points conceded per match. By adding an attack which is on the championship podium (31.69 points scored per match), we understand better why the Héraultais finished second in the regular season.
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26.4: the MHR ruck war
This statistic also illustrates the solidity of the Montpellier defense and the difficulty for opponents to develop their game. On average, Lenni Nouchi’s teammates contest 26.4 rucks per match, for 4.5 winning contests. They are the best in the championship in this sector and regularly manage to disrupt opposing offensive launches.
