Kicking in General Play Statistics

Let’s take a look at the statistics for the kicking by each Super Rugby team after Round 9 of the 2011 competition.

Click on the icon in the column headings to sort the data in the tables.

This table shows the number of kicks and the metres gained so far in 2011.

While the Reds might be leading the pack in terms of the number of kicks per game, my impression is that a lot of those are attacking kicks in behind the line; nonetheless, there’s no doubt that Quade Cooper is playing for field position more than he did in 2010. With Mark Gerrard’s boot as an asset, it’s no surprise to see the Rebels leading the average metres gained per kick.

It’s interesting to compare those numbers to the statistics for the 2010 season (excluding the finals matches):

With four teams averaging over 800 metres gained per match in 2010 compared to only one in 2011 to date, it seems the slight variation in the interpretation of the ruck laws this year is encouraging teams to kick for a contest a little more, rather than just thumping it downfield as far down field as possible as they did in the past.

We can also compare the numbers to statistics for the Six Nations competition in 2010 and 2011.

Unfortunately we don’t have data for the metres gained kicking in the Six Nations, but the reduction in the amount of kicking in 2011 from England, Ireland and particularly Italy is notable.

Another interesting point to consider is whether Australian teams use a different kicking game when playing each other, compared with their kick tactics in the overall competition. Let’s look at 2011 first:

The only notable difference is the additional metres gained by the Waratahs when playing other Australian teams.  Considering their success against the Australian teams compared to their results against the New Zealand and South African teams, this may be something to keep an eye on as the season progresses.

Here are the statistics for the 2010 season (excluding finals):

The differences between the overall season and the Australian derbies are much more noticeable.