- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
It has been a shaky start to the Western Force’s 2015 campaign. With this in mind, I present to you the good, the bad and the ugly from the Force’s first five games of the season.
The good
The Force are maintaining possession of the ball. They lead the league in average carries per game (121), and also sit first in time in possession (16 minutes 32 seconds).
These fantastic ball-retention statistics are led by flyhalf Zac Holmes, who is in the early stages of one of the biggest breakthrough seasons in the club’s history.
He leads the team in metres run (217) off just 32 carries of the ball, and has beaten 13 defenders. Whenever he has the ball in-hand he opens up new avenues for his team to create plays and gain metres over the advantage line. He also displays quick feet and pure power, having beaten 13 defenders this season.
Ben McCalman is also having a strong season, typical of the six-year veteran and Wallaby World Cup representative. He leads the team in ball carries at a massive 63 and shows off a well-rounded game with 48 tackles (also first in the team). He sits second behind Holmes in metres run, with 148, and is one of only two forwards (along with Steve Mafi) ranked in the top ten in this statistic for the team.
The bad
Despite the way the Force are maintaining possession of the ball and giving themselves the time to create attacking opportunities, they are often slow to convert in attack.
They average the fewest clean breaks per game this season, making just 4.2 per game. Their work at the breakdown statistically shows they are one of the best teams in this area of the game. They sit first in the league in rucks won per game, at 92.4, and have a ruck success rate of 95 per cent, putting them second in the league to the Bulls.
However, statistics can be misguiding. The Force forwards are often slow to the breakdown, giving the opposing defence the chance to set and have quite a considerable amount of time to wait until the ball is out of the ruck. This may also be a contributing factor to why they lead the league in ball possession.
The ugly
The Force are lacking grunt in their defensive play, and also need to have a think about their set piece.
The side currently has the worst tackling success rate this season, making only 83 per cent of their tackles thus far. They also lead the league in tries against with 15.
Eight backline players make the top ten in missed tackles, and it is clear when watching them play that is the area they are mainly being beaten in. The backline need to match their decent offensive numbers with some strong defence to reach the next level.
The next area of concern is their scrum success rate. They succeed in 69.23 per cent of their scrums, which is 10 per cent below the 14th ranked team. The top teams are converting their scrums over 90 per cent of the time, and league average teams are converting their scrums around the mid-to-low 80 per cent range.
Saying this, their scrum has come a long way since week one against the Waratahs and looks like it will continue to improve.
Moving forward
This weekend the Force play the Bulls, who have been playing well, but have not been outstanding. For the Force to keep their finals hopes alive, this match is almost a must-win. Losing 5 games in a row in a 16-game season can really put a team on the back foot, and a strong road-win will help them recover.
(All statistics sourced from Opta Data.)
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.