Statistics - using possession in the quarters
The tense, testing quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup have come and gone, leaving a trail of incrimination behind one of them.
New Zealand’s complaints about the refereeing of Wayne Barnes in Cardiff have been strident, raucous and not always logical.
If the appointment of referees were done by popularity poll we would have had no referees at all at the World Cup, The letters from irate fans would have eliminated all of the 12 who were there – some permanently – and also several of the touch judges and TMOs.
If you took the top countries of the world and gave them a veto, on the lines of the security council of the UNO, you would probably end up with nought out of twelve referees. Every country has a pet aversion, and the more the country has lost, the more pet aversions it accumulates.
But the game cannot go on without referees. It cannot even try to go on without referees. That there are referees at all is proof positive that players make mistakes and that they are inclined to be unfair. After all, players have the same fallen nature as the rest of us. Because of this they need referees. But more – because of the players’ imperfection, sport is possible. Imperfection/human error makes sport possible. Perfection would make sport impossible. There will be no rugby in heaven!
Sounsdsure have given us some statistics which show how possession was used. Earlier this week we gave the statistics of getting the ball to use it; now we are going to see how it was used. In doing so we get some idea how many things a referee has to attend to in a game – a game of constant, bustling movement, high emotion and physical collision.
1. Possession Time
(i) England vs Australia
England: 15 minutes 18 seconds
Australia: 18 minutes 34 seconds
(ii) France vs New Zealand
France: 15 minutes 47 seconds
New Zealand: 29 minutes 47 seconds.
(iii) South Africa vs Fiji
South Africa: 17 minutes 6 seconds
Fiji: 17 minutes 53 seconds
(iv) Argentina vs Scotland
Argentina: 20 minutes 7 seconds
Scotland: 19 minutes
In the first three cases the team with possession longer lost.
2. Passes
(i) England vs Australia
England: 108
Australia: 124
(ii) France vs New Zealand
France: 67
New Zealand: 190
(iii) South Africa vs Fiji
South Africa: 93
Fiji: 128
(iv) Argentina vs Scotland
Argentina: 102
Scotland: 135
In each match the team that passed more lost.
In the match between France and New Zealand there were 257 passes. The referee will be remembered for just one!
3. Kicks
(i) England vs Australia
England: 30
Australia: 25
(ii) France vs New Zealand
France: 40
New Zealand: 38
(iii) South Africa vs Fiji
South Africa: 27
Fiji: 19
(iv) Argentina vs Scotland
Argentina: 38
Scotland: 29
In each case the team which kicked more won.
The perception that France kicked far more than New Zealand is erroneous. In fact in the first half New Zealand kicked more than France (31 to 25).
4. Ruck & Maul (the number lost is in brackets)
(i) England vs Australia
England: 70 (5)
Australia: 77 (8)
(ii) France vs New Zealand
France: 40 (6)
New Zealand: 114 (7)
(iii) South Africa vs Fiji
South Africa: 59 (4)
Fiji: 83 (4)
(iv) Argentina vs Scotland
Argentina: 83 (2)
Scotland: 76 (9)
5. Turn-overs in general play
(i) England vs Australia
England: 7
Australia: 10
(ii) France vs New Zealand
France: 2
New Zealand: 9
(iii) South Africa vs Fiji
South Africa: 10
Fiji: 15
(iv) Argentina vs Scotland
Argentina: 13
Scotland: 11
6. Getting possession from penalty, free kick, scrum, line-out
(i) England vs Australia
England: 26
Australia: 31
(ii) France vs New Zealand
France: 30
New Zealand: 16
(iii) South Africa vs Fiji
South Africa: 35
Fiji: 29
(iv) Argentina vs Scotland
Argentina: 29
Scotland: 36
7. Tries scored
(i) England vs Australia
England: 0
Australia: 1
(ii) France vs New Zealand
France: 2
New Zealand: 2
(iii) South Africa vs Fiji
South Africa: 5
Fiji: 2
(iv) Argentina vs Scotland
Argentina: 1
Scotland: 1
