Scrum watch, Week 8

Recently we looked at scrummaging and its improvement in 2012 Super Rugby, seeking, as it does, to have the ball in and out 70% of the time without an intervening stoppage.

In 2011 the percentage of scrum success was 45%. After Week 7 that was up to 59,5% this year, still a way to go.

Up to the end of Week 7, the statistics were as follows:

Scrums: 662
Resets: 112
Penalties: 110
Free kicks: 46

Resets%: 16,9%
Penalties%: 16,6%
Free kicks%: 6,9%

Week 8

Blues vs Sharks: 16 scrums – 5 resets, 6 collapses, 1 penalties
Force vs Waratahs: 13 scrums – 8 resets, 16 collapses, 4 penalties, 1 free kick
Brumbies vs Rebels: 14 scrums – 1 resets, 1 collapses, 4 penalties, 3 free kicks
Crusaders vs Stormers: 11 scrums – 4 resets, 3 collapses
Cheetahs vs Chiefs: 15 scrums – 0 resets, 1 collapses, 1 penalties, 1 free kick
Lions vs Bulls: 16 scrums – 2 resets, 3 collapses, 2 penalties, 2 free kicks

Scrums: 85
Resets: 20 – 23%
Penalties: 12 – 14%
Free kicks: 7 – 8%

That men as that ‘successful’ (in-out) scrums were down to 54%.

Resets are up, but then the stats are much skewed by one match – Force vs Waratahs. The first scrum in that match, a Force put-in, took 2 minutes 2 seconds. That is monstrous. The Force put the ball into 9 scrums. Only one did not collapse. In all scrums collapsed 12 times on the Force put-in. The Force were the ones penalised in the match – four times, including a yellow card.

The log for penalties at scrums looks like this, with the Bulls the worst offenders:

17 Bulls
10 Reds, Highlanders, Rebels
9 Cheetahs, Crusaders
8 Hurricanes, Sharks, Chiefs
7 Blues, Force
6 Stormers, Brumbies
4 Lions, Waratahs