MELANI Nanai was joint top of the Premiership pile for metres gained last week – and centre Ollie Lawrence was not far behind.

Opta statistics for round 20 fixtures, which included Worcester Warriors’ 40-25 triumph at London Irish, saw Nanai level with Gloucester’s Jake Polledri with both men having pushed forward their respective sides by 92 metres.

Next was Exeter’s Jon Snow with 84 and Lawrence came in with 82, considerably ahead of Bristol pair Ioan Lloyd (76) and Jack Bates (75) who were next on the list.

Nanai also beat six defenders, again among the best over the weekend, although the top performer in that respect was out on his own - Polledri did it 11 times. 

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Meanwhile, Warriors back-row forward GJ van Velze has had surgery on the shoulder injury he suffered against Exeter Chiefs last month.

The former captain dislocated his right shoulder early in the second half and has now had an operation to repair the damage. Van Velze is expected to return to play in three months.

Centre Will Butler is to see a specialist at the end of this month to decide how the ankle injury sustained against Bath last week will be treated.

It was the second time this season that Butler had suffered an ankle injury at The Rec following a setback in the Premiership Rugby Cup match almost a year ago which led to a four-month absence.