After a bumper Round 10 of Super Rugby action, here are last weekend’s standout rugby stats.
Smith v Gill
The Australian number seven jersey is in safe hands. With George Smith leaning towards availability; and Robbie Deans keen to recapture a player who has led the side on five occasions on the Deans’ watch, last weekend’s head-to-head between Smith and Liam Gill was perfect timing.
And the youngster more than held his own. Smith, as he always does, churned out impressive statistics, albeit it largely in a defensive role.
But Gill was also proactive, and should be well pleased with his night’s work. The head-to-head analysis of the pair’s work on the night is as follows:
Tackles Made: Smith 15 made, 3 missed; Gill 8 made, 3 missed
Hit Ups: Smith 6 effective, 3 ineffective; Gill 8 effective
Ruck Arrivals: Smith 33, Gill 41
Handling Errors: Smith 3, Gill 2
Turnovers: Smith 1, Gill 0
While the nature of the statistics reflects the way the game panned out, with Gill able to play a more attacking role (hence his advantage in the hit up and ruck arrivals numbers).
The contest showed that both players will do a good job if employed against the British and Irish Lions, with Gill perhaps best suited to the attacking role against a tiring opponent after Smith has helped to blunt their initial onslaught.
The Smith ring craft at the breakdown, aided by the McCaw-like perception he carries in the mind of referees (eg. that if it is Smith, it can’t be a penalty as he will have got his timing right); can only help the Wallabies cause.
The latter point was in evidence on Saturday when Smith got the benefit of a few hairline breakdown decisions from inexperienced Kiwi referee Glen Jackson.
Jackson would know from his own experience that Smith usually gets his timing right, having suffered on a few occasions during his time playing against Smith for the Chiefs.
Flanker Watch: With all of the hype around Smith and Gill, let’s not forget the work of Michael Hooper, who appeared in the Wallaby number seven jersey more times than anyone else last year.
Hooper had a big hand in the Waratahs’ 25-20 win over the Chiefs, making 13 tackles and 5 ball carries, while also picking up a turnover.
From the other dressing room, All Black Sam Cane made a whopping 20 tackles – one for every four minutes of playing time; which was the most by any player in Super Rugby last weekend. McCaw anyone?
Brian’s Big Tick
Jake White has done a super job with the Brumbies, getting some very good people around him.
One of those is ex-league coach Brian Smith, who gets the big tick this week for the job he has done on the Brumbies’ defence.
The former St George Dragons, Parramatta Eels and Sydney Roosters coach spends one day a week in Canberra working on the players tackle technique, and it is time well spent.
Such was the excellence of the Brumbies’ defence last weekend; the visiting side missed one less tackle than the Reds, despite having to make 38 more in the game! Overall, the Brumbies made 148 tackles, missing 18; while the Reds made 110, missing 19.
So who ‘cheated’ best?
After all of the media ‘jabs’ between the rival coaches Ewen McKenzie and Jake White prior to last weekend’s fascinating derby; it’s fair to say that White probably came out on top.
His conference leader’s hung on for the draw on the road, denying the Reds two valuable competition points which could be critical down the track, especially given the Queenslanders are still to travel to South Africa.
On a night where the Reds enjoyed 56 percent of the possession and 60 percent of the territory; it was undoubtedly the Brumbies’ ability to slow down the Reds’ ruck recycle that proved decisive.
The average speed with which the Brumbies recycled their ruck possession was 2.6 seconds, nearly a full second ahead of the Reds 3.4 seconds per ruck.
This clearly helped the Brumbies to stall the Reds’ onslaught in the second half. It appears that McKenzie’s pre-game rant on this subject which blatantly targeted referee Glen Jackson fell on deaf ears!
Wallaby Watch
They might have flown under the radar a bit but the names Pat McCabe, Rob Horne and Dave Dennis should not be forgotten when the Wallaby calculations start.
All three turned in great figures last weekend: with McCabe making five tackles and four charges in just 34 minutes as he continues his comeback from a nasty neck injury.
Such was McCabe’s effectiveness with the ball, he made 50 meters in those four runs, which was the third best meterage gained by a Brumby on the night.
And Robbie Deans is known to like his hard direct running and punishing defence, which are both well suited to the physical and direct British and Irish approach to the game.
Horne too, has been long admired by Deans, who won’t have missed the 11 ball carries and 14 tackles he completed against the Chiefs as he continues his impressive development as an inside centre.
Similarly Dennis, who played every Waratahs and Wallaby game last year, is getting back to the form that won him those selections.
His 16 tackles were the most made by any Tahs player last Friday, while his 11 hit ups ranked him third in that count (out of interest, Ben Mowen, who could be competing for the same spot in the Wallabies, made 13 tackles and 7 ball carries).
Other notable individual player statistics sure to have captured the attention of the national selectors include – Digby Ioane (158 run metres, Australia’s best on the weekend); Quade Cooper (111 run metres, which was the second best for Queensland on the night), Richard Brown (9 carries and 18 tackles, the latter was Australia’s best for the weekend); Tatafu Polota Nau (9 tackles and 12 carries) and Matt Hodgson (13 ball carries and 12 tackles).
Force but no subtlety
There’s no doubt that Michael Foley has the Western Force better organised this year than the editions of previous seasons, with the Western Australians making good use of their experienced forward pack.
It’s one thing having the ball, another to use it effectively; and this is the area of the game currently tripping the Perth side up.
Such was the dominance the Force achieved in Wellington last Friday; the visitors registered 59 percent of the possession, and 57 percent of the territory, yet departed the Cake Tin with just a bonus point to show for their efforts from a 16-22 loss.
And this despite forcing the Hurricanes to make 177 tackles on the night, 29 more than the Brumbies had to make during their gallant defensive performance in Brisbane.
It was perhaps indicative of the lack of imagination in the Force attack that their only try was a brilliant solo effort from the former Hurricanes halfback Alby Mathewson.
Data courtesy of Verusco Sports Statistics, official supplier to Australian Rugby
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