Stats: Of tackles and forward action

South Africa played Australia in Pretoria last Saturday, a match of great activity in its early part in which Australia led and eventually South Africa won.

We have given the statistics of getting possession.

Yesterday we saw some stats on the activities of the two sets of backs when they had possession.

Again we thank Fikasms for the information.

Just before we do, let’s look at the tacklers on both sides, because there is often talk about who tackled most.

Tackles made:

For South Africa

10 Pierre Spies
9 Schalk Burger
6 John Smit, François Hougaard, Jaque Fourie
5 Morné Steyn
4 Juan Smith, Jaque Fourie, Butch James
3 Gurthrö Steenkamp. François van der Merwe, Danie Rossouw, Bryan Habana
2 Victor Matfield, JP Pietersen
1 Jannie du Plessis
0 Frans Steyn, Chiliboy Ralepelle, CJ van der Linde

For Australia

12 Adam Ashley-Cooper
8 David Pocock, Drew Mitchell
6 Nathan Sharpe, Rocky Elsom
5 Richard Brown, Will Genia, Ben McCalman
4 Saia Faingaa, Dean Mumm, Quade Cooper
3 Benn Robinson, Matt Giteau, James Slipper
2 Salesi Ma’afu, Kurtley Beale, Stephen Moore
1 James O’Connor, Rob Simmons

Passing by forwards:

Props

South Africa’s: 2
Australia 4

Hookers

South Africa: 1
Australia: 1

Locks

South Africa: 4
Australia: 6

Loose forwards

South Africa: 14
Australia: 22

Total of passes by forwards:

South Africa: 21
Australia: 33

Runs by forwards:

South Africa: 49
Australia: 50

Metres run by forwards:

South Africa: 211
Australia: 267

Runs by individual forwards:

South Africa

13 Pierre Spies
11 Schalk Burger
7 Juan Smith
5 John Smit
4 Gurthrö Steenkamp
3 François van der Merwe, Danie Rossouw
2 Victor Matfield
1 Jannie du Plessis

Australia

8 David Pocock
7 Richard Brown
6 Rocky Elsom
5 Dean Mumm, Nathan Sharpe
4 Saia Faingaa, James Slipper, Ben McCalman
2 Salesi Ma’afu, Benn Robinson, Stephen Moore
1 Rob Simmons

Metres run by individuals:

For South Africa

Pierre Spies 56
Juan Smith 44
Schalk Burger 42
John Smit 19
Gurthrö Steenkamp 17
Danie Rossouw 14
François van der Merwe 8
Victor Matfield 7
Jannie du Plessis 4

For Australia

Rocky Elsom 46
James Slipper 35
Nathan Sharpe 31
David Pocock 30
Richard Brown 27
Dean Mumm 25
Benn Robinson 20
Ben McCalman 18
Saia Faingaa 13
Stephen Moore 12
Salesi Ma’afu 6
Rob Simmons 4

Pierre Spies’s figures may surprise some. He tackled more, ran more often and ran further than any other forward.