Proof the Australian teams aren’t firing in Super Rugby

 
David Lord Columnist

By , 12 Jul 2012 David Lord is a Roar Expert

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    The woeful Waratahs have the Wallabies staring down the barrel (AAP Image/Paul Miller)

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    Wing legend and Roar expert David Campese made an interesting point yesterday when he posed the question – why aren’t Australian teams scoring tries?

    After 17 Super Rugby rounds, the five Australian teams have scored the least tries (161), and given up the most with 202.

    The five Kiwi sides are exactly the opposite with the most tries (209), and the least scored against them with 168.

    Waratahs expect wide rugby attack from Reds

    The South African quintet rests comfortably in between by scoring 178 tries, and having 176 scored against them.

    That obviously translates to the New Zealand sides having greater attacking skills, with the tightest defence – the perfect mix.

    And answering Campo’s question, the Australians, along with South Africa, both lack try-scoring ability and leak far too many five-pointers.

    In the breakdown to individual teams, the seven-times champion Crusaders show the way with a points differential for-and-against of plus-128, from the Stormers plus-91, and the Chiefs plus-89.

    The Hurricanes have comprehensively scored the most tries (55), from the Bulls (46), and the Chiefs with 44. But the Hurricanes probably won’t make the play-offs, the Bulls probably will.

    The Chiefs have already qualified.

    The Stormers have given up the least tries (18), from the Chiefs (27) and Brumbies 28. The Stormers and Chiefs have already qualified by topping their Conferences, and the Brumbies should follow suit on Saturday by heading the Australian Conference.

    The critical 18th and final round clashes.

    Let’s see if the aggregation of results from the previous 17 rounds means anything:

    Friday:
    Hurricanes (53 points) and Chiefs (63) at Wellington.
    Hurricanes (55 for-36 against) could cause an upset over the Chiefs (44-27) – Hurricanes 4 points.

    Saturday:
    Brumbies (58) and Blues (28) at Canberra.
    Brumbies (40-28) should spank the defenceless Blues (31-49) – Brumbies 5 points.

    Crusaders (56) and Force (27) at Christchurch.
    Crusaders (43-31) to have far too much firepower for the Force (27-45) with no David Pocock – Crusaders 5 points.

    Reds (53) and Waratahs (35) at Suncorp.
    Reds (33-34) will have to work to grab a try-bonus win over the Waratahs (31-38) – Reds 4 points.

    Stormers (62) and Rebels (30) at Newlands.
    Stormers (26-18) have the lowest tries scored, the lowest against, and not scored four tries in any game, but have won the most games of any team (13), and too good for the Rebels (34-57) – Stormers 4 points.

    Sharks (54) and Cheetahs (38) at Durban.
    Sharks (43-31) should clean up the Cheetahs (35-43) – Sharks 5 points.

    With the Bulls (54) and Lions (25) at Loftus.
    Bulls (46-36) to crush the lowly Lions (28-48) – Bulls 5 points.

    The final table could look like this:

    Stormers – 66.
    Chiefs – 63.
    Brumbies – 63.
    Crusaders – 61.
    Sharks – 59.
    Bulls – 59.
    ———————
    Hurricanes – 57.
    Reds – 56.

    While in statistical mode, 2,307,256 spectators have watched 113 games, averaging 20,418 a game.

    And there have been 552 tries scored in the 17 rounds, averaging 4.88 a game.

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