The All Blacks completed a clean sweep of the Tri Nations competition in 2010, the first team ever to do so. It was a remarkable achievement built on the back of a great brand of attacking rugby. There’s no doubt they are the best side in the world at the moment.
What do the statistics from the competition show? Are the Wallabies or Springboks getting closer to the All Blacks? Well for the Wallabies the numbers show a positive trend but for the Springboks their numbers are heading the wrong way.
Following is a short summary of the key statistics. To get the full picture, click on the links at the bottom of the page to download the statistics package which now includes statistics for the All Blacks and the Springboks as we know it’s not just Wallaby fans who come to Green and Gold Rugby for quality rugby analysis. There are two sets of statistics available – a short version with the same statistics measured for every game for each team and a second more detailed version for the Wallabies. The detailed versions for the All Blacks and Springboks are only available for the games they played against the Wallabies.
There are a mountain of numbers to get through but in addition to keeping you well informed, our aim in producing these statistics is to give you the basis to prepare your own analysis and share with us. What do you make of the numbers? We look forward to your feedback.
Lets look at set pieces – kickoffs and scrums are areas the Wallabies need to work on but the lineout was good. The lineout is one area where the All Blacks are struggling and the Wallabies really need to go after their lineout in Hong Kong.
| KICKOFF RECEIPTS | Wallabies | All Blacks | Springboks |
| Ball Received | 36 | 41 | 36 |
| Won | 25 | 34 | 30 |
| Won % | 69% | 83% | 83% |
| SCRUMS | Wallabies | All Blacks | Springboks |
| Ball Fed | 38 | 35 | 56 |
| Won | 29 | 34 | 55 |
| Won % | 76% | 97% | 98% |
| LINEOUTS | Wallabies | All Blacks | Springboks |
| Ball Fed | 58 | 59 | 59 |
| Won | 50 | 47 | 50 |
| Won % | 86% | 80% | 85% |
In terms of possession and what each team did with that possession, the Wallabies and All Blacks kicked much less than the Springboks but as a result of using the ball more incurred more lost possession whilst attacking.
| POSSESSION | Wallabies | All Blacks | Springboks |
| Times in Possession | 230 | 261 | 265 |
| Try / Field Goal | 7% | 8% | 5% |
| Penalty / Free Kick For | 14% | 11% | 12% |
| Penalty / Free Kick Against | 1% | 3% | 2% |
| Breakdown Lost | 13% | 13% | 15% |
| Possession Reset | 3% | 2% | 3% |
| Possession Lost | 25% | 28% | 17% |
| Kick (+) | 29% | 25% | 34% |
| Kick (-) | 8% | 10% | 12% |
| Total | 100% | 100% | 100% |
On attack the Wallabies and All Blacks were much more dangerous than the Springboks.
| ATTACK | Wallabies | All Blacks | Springboks |
| Line Breaks | 44 | 38 | 18 |
| Tries | 17 | 22 | 13 |
In defence the All Blacks hit the 90% mark I suggested prior to the Tri Nations the Wallabies would need to attain to beat the All Blacks. The Wallabies performance wasn’t bad but just a couple of percentage points can make all the difference to winning or losing so they need to match the All Blacks in this area and the Springboks have a fair bit of work to do.
| DEFENCE | Wallabies | All Blacks | Springboks |
| Tackles Attempted | 1033 | 833 | 977 |
| Tackles Missed | 147 | 86 | 180 |
| Tackles Made | 886 | 747 | 797 |
| Tackle Accuracy % | 86% | 90% | 82% |
At the breakdown the Wallabies were the best performed side just edging the All Blacks. Once again the performance of the Springboks has slipped.
| BREAKDOWN | Wallabies | All Blacks | Springboks |
| Ball Taken In | 553 | 592 | 510 |
| Retained | 524 | 557 | 470 |
| Retained % | 95% | 94% | 92% |
In terms of the score, the All Blacks were way ahead. That’s the difference it makes when all of the components in a teams game are working well.
| SCORES | Wallabies | All Blacks | Springboks |
| Points For | 162 | 184 | 147 |
| Points Against | 188 | 111 | 194 |
| Points Differential | -26 | 73 | -47 |
The statistics contained in these reports as to where tries are scored from are based on where the phase on which the try was scored commenced. In my article last week on the tries scored in the Tri Nations I included some alternate statistics based on where the possession sequence the try was scored from commenced. Those alternate statistics and a breakdown of the times the tries were scored together with a breakdown between forwards and backs scoring follow.
| FIELD POSITION START FOR TRIES | Wallabies | All Blacks | Springboks |
| > 50 Metres | 35% | 59% | 15% |
| 20-50 Metres | 12% | 14% | 15% |
| 10-20 Metres | 29% | 18% | 31% |
| < 10 Metres | 24% | 9% | 39% |
| Total | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| TIME TO SCORE TRIES | Wallabies | All Blacks | Springboks |
| < 20 Minutes | 47% | 32% | 15% |
| 20-40 Minutes | 23% | 18% | 31% |
| 40-60 Minutes | 12% | 18% | 23% |
| 60-80 Minutes | 18% | 32% | 31% |
| Total | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| WHO SCORED TRIES | Wallabies | All Blacks | Springboks |
| Forwards | 19% | 32% | 62% |
| Backs | 81% | 68% | 38% |
| Total | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Finally a quick summary of the defence statistics for some of the Wallabies. More detail on each player is included in the statistics package but these defence numbers highlight the problem with Quade’s defence. It’s also interesting to see the number of missed tackles by Rocky.
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Wallabies – All Games Detailed
Wallabies v All Blacks – Detailed
Wallabies v Springboks – Detailed
Wallabies – All Games Summary
All Blacks v Wallabies – Detailed
All Blacks – All Games Summary
Springboks v Wallabies – Detailed
Springboks – All Games Summary
