Thought I would get in a little earlier with some stats. These are ones that I've supplied to some of the press and are popping up, which is postive. Enjoy. Hopefully I can get back at halftime and drop some more in here.
These are averages so I'm writing this now so I don't have to keep saying this throughout. Also in the attachment a ranking of 1 is highest, most. 20 is lowest. A '1' in not an exclusively good thing, neither is it an exclusively bad thing.
Time, Poss & Terr.
RSA in 2011 like playing the game at pace. This is depicted by the ball in play or contestable time stats. In their wins over AUS and NZ they played the game at pace.
In RWC they are also doing this, but so to are Samoa. RSA game have the ball in play the most out of any other games. This is good for the fans. The trend in RWC is to slow the game down. Ireland did this to AUS. If Samoa do this to RSA then it could be interesting.
RSA spend the most time in the oppositions 22 in the comp and in the 2nd half. However not in the first half, as Samoa have the highest time in the opp 22.
Points
RSA have the amount of point scored against the. 2nd highest number of tries.
RSA convert the most tries.
Samoa are 9 times more likely to score a try on the left side of the field than the right. This is interesting because this is where RSA concede the most amount of tries. RSA score 53% of the tries on the right side of the left compared to the left.Samoa conceded an equal amount of tries from both sides of the field.
RSA and Samoa will concede about twice as many penalties from the left side than the right. As it appears there is a lot of action by the Samoans down the left side channel.
Attack
RSA break the most tackle inside the oppositions 22, at 12.3 per game. Samoa are 4th highest in the comp with 7.3.
RSA will offload a little less than Samoa 9.7 v 9.0.
RSA lead the comp in charge downs, averaging 1.3 per game.
RSA kick the ball into touch the most out of any team.
Both teams make the same amount of tactical kicking errors.
What surprised me is Morne running as 1st receiver. After being quite most of the Boks 2011 games, he decided to run. 3rd in the comp for running from set piece. Hmmm hasn't he got two tries so far? Cooper runs more. Before the Georgia v Romania game, Morne was 2nd in the comp, but the Georgia 1st 5/8 ran lots the other night, pushing out of the number 2 slot.
Defence
Area of concern all year. Boks don't commit to the 1st up tackles and either fall off, or two people need to tackle the person. Not effect. However they are missing the most in the OPP 22, not a bad place to miss. In their own 22 they are average.
Their tackle to miss ratio is bad. They are missing on average in RWC 1 in 4.6 tackle attempts. Samoan 1 in 5.8. Best was against Wales where it was 1 in 5. It been as low as 1 in 3 in 2011. Still a pattern.
Errors
Samoa are 2nd the comp with lost possessions/turnovers with 23.3 RSA are not too far behind, 5th highest, with 21.3
RSA concede one of the lowest penalty count. 7.3 a game or 19th. However they are 3rd highest in conceding penalties while in possession of the ball.
Interesting Samoa concede most of their penalties between their 22 and halfway. They lead the comp in this stat. If they do it against RSA, expect Morne to slot them.
Samoa make the most handling errors, 10.3. RSA are 4th highest with 10.0
Set pieces
Small number, but RSA lead the comp in lineout's not straight.
RSA favour throwing to the middle in the lineout's, Samoa to the front.
RSA have one of the lowest number of resets when they play.
Ref is Nigel Owen.
5.3 scrum resets. This is 2nd highest. His scrum resets take the most time on average to reset .
5.7 scrum infringement per game. This is the 4th highest
16.7 pens, lowest at the moment.
8.7 pens for ruck. lowest in comp.
1 pen for offside, lowest.
4.7 pens are inside the 22, 9th lowest.
2.3 pen end up being kicks at goal.
That's about it...
