The Tokyo Bledisloe match featured the clash of two backlines who basically can’t tackle to save themselves. Both the Wallabies and All Blacks backs fall off one in four tackles they attempt.
Let’s look at the Wallabies first, using calculations derived from 2009 Super 14 stats compiled by Verusco Technologies. The first figure is the average number of tackles made per 80 minutes played, and the figure in brackets is the percentage of missed tackles:
Wallabies backs
Will Genia 7.5 (27.0)
Matt Giteau 10.0 (15.6)
Digby Ioane 7.3 (25.6)
Adam Ashley-Cooper 7.2 (25.0)
Ryan Cross 7.9 (19.0)
Peter Hynes 5.7 (19.5)
James O’Connor 8.5 (14.5)
Luke Burgess 9.7 (15.7)
Drew Mitchell 4.2 (33.3)
Quade Cooper 8.8 (42.0)
Average 7.7 (23.7)
All Blacks backs
Jimmy Cowan 6.3 (17.7)
Dan Carter – (-)
Sitiveni Sivivatu 5.4 (20.5)
Ma’a Nonu 8.7 (16.4)
Conrad Smith 8.5 (20.0)
Cory Jane 5.6 (21.7)
Mils Muliaina 4.2 (22.0)
Brendan Leonard 7.1 (27.6)
Stephen Donald 5.6 (40.0
Tamati Ellison 6.5 (25.6)
Average 6.4 (23.5)
The situation gets worse with the rest of the injured and non-selected Wallabies backs:
Berrick Barnes 9.6 (25.7)
Kurtley Beale 7.5 (33.3)
Rob Horne 8.9 (29.2)
Richard Kingi 5.6 (33.3)
Stirling Mortlock 6.1 (38.0)
Tyrone Smith 8.6 (29.
Matt Toomua 9.1 (28.9)
Average 7.9 (31.2)
And the man who can’t get a guernsey no matter how many players break down? Tom Carter averaged 12.7 tackles per 80 minutes and missed just 6.7%.
