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The Rugby Pod – June Internationals Second Weekend Stat Attack
The second weekend of the June internationals was just as dramatic as the first. The English built a brick wall in defence and the Wallabies threw everything they had at it but with little yield, meanwhile Wales and Ireland’s defences parted like the red sea for 20 minutes each and their southern hemisphere opponents certainly capitalised.
So - how did the games look from a stats perspective? The Rugby Pod has done the number crunching and the results are in:
Attack
Metres Made:
For the second week running Liam Williams (124) was the best runner. The Welshman showed that he really isn’t just keeping Leigh Halfpenny’s shirt warm and is developing into a class act from anywhere in the back three. Waisake Naholo (111) had the best evening for the All Blacks with the ball in hand, closely followed by the ever-reliable Ben Smith (96) who switched to the wing to accommodate 50th cap man Israel Dagg.
Willie Le Roux (104) really had a roller coaster afternoon – going from being booed in the 1st half to igniting the South African comeback with a blitzing run down the right wing to set up Combrinck’s try in the 2nd. Despite not having his best of games, he still made more ground than Folau (96), Gilroy (58) and Mike Brown (38) who all made the most metres for their respective teams.
Clean Breaks:
Perhaps the clean break of the weekend goes to England hooker Jamie George (1), who found his inner footballer to cut through the Wallaby defence and put through a grubber kick for Owen Farrell to score.
For Australia, Haylett-Petty (2) was a noticeable handful for the English and slipped through twice, as did Folau, Hooper and Scott Fardy (2). Liam Williams and Jonathan Davies (3) each broke through the New Zealand defence and scored, but Naholo and Ben Smith (4) retaliated and were the effective this weekend. No English, Irish or South African player had more than one clean break.
Defenders Beaten:
Waisake Naholo (4) was our top offender last week, beating nine Welsh players and setting a strong benchmark. This week Damian de Allende (6) bumped off Conor Murray before somehow finding away through a few more flailing Irish arms and beat at least three defenders in the process to score. Bernard Foley and Haylett-Petty (6) were both again strong in attack despite such a solid English defence. Jared Payne (3) beat the most for the Irish from full-back, whilst Brown and Watson (2) lead the way for England.
Liam Williams (5) and Ben Smith (5) again feature, both putting in strong shifts and being rewarded with tries. Jonathan Davies (6), whom almost buried one of the All Black players with a serious fend, tops the list after a solid game going forward.
Defence
Top Tacklers:
South Africa v Ireland
Du Toit (9) scored his 2nd try in two tests for South Africa this weekend – but was also the Springbok’s top defender. Devin Toner (12) put in a flawless display in defence, and the green giant also scored a try for the Irish. Rory Best, Henshaw, Olding and Paddy Jackson (10) also all made it into double figures in the tackle count.
Australia v England
James Haskell (23) was England’s top defender last week, and on this occasion he was again top of a vast list of English players who were heroic in defence. Itoje (21), Billy Vunipola (20) and Mako Vunipola (19) put in remarkable efforts, whilst Dylan Hartley (17) and Owen Farrell (16) were amongst 7 other English players who made 10 or more tackles.
The Wallabies were strong in defence but their top tackler was Nick Phipps (7), who was the only man in gold to make more than 5 tackles. To put the game in perspective; Courtney Lawes (6) made more tackles than 22 of the 23 man Australian squad despite only playing 24 minutes!
New Zealand v Wales
Ross Moriarty (15) and Toby Faletau (13) were Wales’ top tacklers last week and they top the table this weekend also as the back row pair were ever present for the men in red. The back row theme recurs with Keiran Read (15) and Sam Kane (12) putting in the most graft for the All Blacks. Eight All Blacks players had to make more than 10 tackles, a statistic that Rob Howley will likely cite if his role as the Welsh attack coach is ever put into question!
Most Missed Tackles:
Despite having another tremendous game for the red rose and making 21 tackles, Maro Itoje (5) missed the most this week alongside Jamie Roberts (5) and Jonathan Davies (5) - although all three players had fine games in other departments. Naholo (4) wasn’t far behind with a dodgy shift in defence, whilst Foley and Haylett-Petty (2) were the two worst offenders in an Australia shirt.
No player in the South Africa v Ireland clash missed more than two tackles, with Du Toit, De Allende, Ruddock, McGrath, Jackson and Olding (2) the only ones named and shamed in an otherwise very strong defensive effort from both sides.
Missed Tackles by Team:
England (31), Wales (29), New Zealand (23), Ireland (13), South Africa (10) and Australia (9).
Awards
Player of the Weekend – Beauden Barrett
Liam Williams and Owen Farrell are unlucky to miss out on this, but Barrett really changed the game for the All Blacks when he came on. He has done it off the bench time and time again - most notably scoring in both the RWC 2015 semi-finals and final. With Aaron Cruden looking like he could miss the next test – Barrett may be handed the 10 shirt for the full 80 next weekend. Would walk into any other starting XV.
Shocker of the Weekend – Lwazi Mvovo
Subbed off after 40 minutes, Nvovo had a terrible game. He offered little in attack for the time he was on and didn’t even look close to catching a number of simple high balls. It was his mistake that led to Ireland’s try by Toner, and he will be disappointed with his performance and looks likely to be dropped.
Written by Ollie Shires for www.TheRugbyPod.com
