The Waratahs earned their 23-5 win over the hapless, injury ravaged Reds with a better running game (624m v 309m) in an error-filled encounter at Suncorp Stadium.
The amazing aspect of this score line was that the Reds were still in the game at the 60 minute mark.
The Reds made 15 handling errors, missed 28 tackles and gave away 12 penalties.
The Waratahs made 18 handling errors, missed 19 tackles and gave away 19 penalties and 1 Yellow Card.
The battle at the breakdown was one of the more entertaining aspects of this match.
Remember:
- Early means 1st or 2nd AFTER the ball carrier has been tackled and brought to ground.
- Impact means active engagement: strong physical contact, changed shape of ruck, clean-out, protecting ball etc. (more than hand on someone’s bum or arriving after the hard work has been done). Yes it’s subjective – but as I collect all data at least it’s consistent.
- Impact DOES NOT equate to Effectiveness. I’ve concluded that coming up with an effectiveness measure is just too hard in the time that I have available – but open to suggestions.
Reds vs Waratahs – What do the Ruck Statistics tell us?
Comments:
- Ruck involvement by the Reds forwards, apart from Liam Gill and Adam Thomson, showed their tendency to stand off defensive rucks and only engaging when there was a clear advantage and opportunity to gain a turn-over. Reds forward rucks in attack outnumbered rucks in defence 3:1. The Reds forwards gained 3 turn-overs from 38 defensive ruck involvements.
- Ruck involvement by the Waratahs forwards, particularly by Michael Hooper and Jacques Potgeiter, showed a higher level of involvement in defensive rucks. Waratahs forward rucks in attack outnumbered rucks in defence 2:1. The Waratahs forwards gained 4 turnovers from 51 defensive ruck involvements.
- Liam Gill was the standout rucking forward showing the highest level of ruck involvement with strong support of the ball carrier. Gill had 9 carries for 8m, 1 defender beaten, 5 tackles at 83%, and conceded 3 turnovers.
- However, Michael Hooper was the standout Open Side Flanker with a team-high rucking performance, better running game (8 carries for 40m, 4 defenders beaten and 2 clean breaks) and team-high tackle count of 11 tackles at 92%; 1 turn over; 2 penalties.
- Dave Dennis gets the points for the best rucking Lock. The Reds combination of Marco Kotze and David McDuling toiled hard all day but with less impact. McDuling had a team-high tackle count of 13 tackles at 100%.
- Adam Thomson gets my nomination for best rucking No 6 due to his higher level of involvement but generally less impact than Jacques Potgeiter. Potgeiter was the better ball carrier (8 runs for 13m) and tackler (10 tackles at 100%) but was let down by his discipline on the day (5 turn overs conceded) and 5 errors.
- Wycliff Palu gets the points for best rucking No 8.
- There was no standout rucking Front Rower with some solid rucking performances, especially Totafu Polota-Nau and Sam Talakia, marred by poor discipline.
- Rob Horne had the most ruck involvements of the backs – and many the forwards.
The following tables show ruck involvement for each 10-minutes of the match.
Comments:
- Commendable 80 minute efforts by Gill, Hooper, Thomson, Kotze and Dennis.
Other significant ruck efforts:
Reds
Chris Kuridrani – 16 rucks (87%/93%)
Anthony Fainga’a– 15 rucks (87%/93%).
